Letters from CAMP Rehoboth, Vol. 35, No. 10

So Grateful For This Community Each One of You

C R E A T I N G

A

M O R E

P O S I T I V E

R E H O B O T H

November 21, 2025 Volume 35, Number 10 camprehoboth.org

MAKE AN IMPACT TODAY Your support helps us forge proud and safe communities where gender identity and sexual orientation are respected.

I proudly support CAMP Rehoboth because they make our community feel safe and welcoming for everyone.

Their mission isn’t just about programs and services—it’s about making sure every person feels embraced for who they are.

That takes resources, and it’s the member-driven donor system that keeps the lights on and the mission moving forward.

I donate because I believe in CAMP Rehoboth’s ability to create a stronger, more inclusive community for all of us here in Delaware.

— Dennis Diaz

EXPLORE WAYS TO GIVE CAMP Rehoboth Membership

Stock Gifts

Give ongoing support monthly or yearly.

Donate appreciated assets.

One-Time Gift

Corporate Matching

Give instantly online.

Employer match donations.

Donor Advised Fund (DAF)

Fundraise for Us

Tribute Giving

Transfer from an IRA

Recommend a grant from your DAF to support our work.

Honor someone special.

If you are 70 1/2 years of age or older.

Include us in your will or trust.

Cryptocurrency Giving Donate crypto securely.

Contact our Development Manager, Laurie Thompson, at laurie@camprehoboth.org to learn more about these ways to give.

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NOVEMBER 21, 2025

GIVE NOW

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Planned Giving

Start a peer-to-peer fundraiser.

EIN # 51-0331962 © CAMP Rehoboth 2025

CAMP Matters

BY KIM LEISEY, PHD

Choosing Abundance

L

ast month I attended a national conference for LGBTQ+ community centers.

The keynote speaker, Raquel Willis, reminded us of lessons learned from changemakers Marsha P. Johnson, Laverne Cox, Sylvia Rivera, and Miss Major Griffin-Macy.

These lessons include: let’s not limit our vision; make joy visible; refuse the lie that we are disposable; and infrastructures must be lifesaving—we must build our own infrastructures and make them richer, deeper, and better.

The words of Raquel Willis have captured my thoughts over the past several weeks. Raquel’s words helped me to take a step back, observe the daily life of CAMP Rehoboth, and think about one of the greatest challenges nonprofit organizations face—the scarcity mindset: the belief that resources, time, and support are always limited. Scarcity thinking can restrict vision, stifle innovation, and make us hesitant to invest in capacity. We must refuse the scarcity mindset. Choosing an abundance perspective does not ignore reality; it reframes it. It encourages us to see opportunities where others see limits, to act boldly rather than cautiously, and to build systems that empower communities rather than simply maintain the status quo.

Each day the staff and volunteers at CAMP Rehoboth assist people on the phone and in person. People come to CAMP Rehoboth for assistance with a wide range of things, such as legal support in a discriminatory matter, LGBTQ+ affirming healthcare, locating a divorce attorney, deciding where to buy a home, finding a therapist, parents seeking to support their child on a gender journey, and an older person needing help with using a computer. Along with helping individuals within our community, we are hosting programs and opportunities for health, connection, and learning. Each day we are out in the community building relationships with first responders, healthcare providers, educators, businesses, and elected officials.

Refusing scarcity means rejecting a more insidious lie: that we—or the people we serve—are disposable. In a world that often measures worth by productivity, wealth, or social status, it is easy to internalize the idea that some people matter less, or that we can be replaced without consequence. But every life, every story, every act of generosity carries intrinsic value. CAMP Rehoboth’s staff and its board of directors, grounded in this truth, transform CAMP Rehoboth from a reactive service provider into a proactive changemaker. We envision communities where everyone is seen, valued, and empowered, and where no one is left behind.

A key element of our work is building our own infrastructure. To be a sustainable organization we cannot rely solely on external trends, temporary funding, or fleeting goodwill. We must invest in people, systems, and partnerships that allow our mission to thrive independently. Infrastructure is not just about operations; it is the foundation for resilience, creativity, and long-term impact.

By strengthening the structures beneath our mission, we ensure that courage and vision are supported by capacity and sustainability.

Membership, participation, and community engagement are not formalities; they are expressions of belief.

When members, donors, volunteers, and staff join our mission, they affirm that meaningful change is possible and that no one is disposable. Collective action multiplies courage, leverages resources, and turns vision into reality. Every contribution, every voice, every action matters.

Together, we create the conditions for real and lasting transformation.

We must balance bold action with thoughtful stewardship, risk-taking with strategic planning, and hope with accountability. It requires us to inspire, manage, and empower simultaneously. It requires refusing scarcity, refusing to see anyone as expendable, and investing in a strong infrastructure that supports a long-term mission.

Ultimately, our work is about people— their dignity, potential, and the communities we build. It is about refusing imposed limitations, creating systems that sustain growth, and fostering environments where generosity, trust, and vision are the foundation. The courage we exercise today echoes the courage of those who came before us, including those who fought for our rights and

We must balance bold action with thoughtful stewardship, risktaking with strategic planning, and hope with accountability. freedom. Their legacy reminds us that justice, service, and freedom require risk, resilience, and unwavering commitment.

When we lead from this perspective, CAMP Rehoboth becomes more than a service organization—it becomes a movement, a force for hope, equity, and long-term change. Members, donors, volunteers, board members, and staff are not just participants; they are partners in building an enduring legacy. By embracing courage, refusing scarcity, and investing in strong infrastructure, we ensure that our mission—and the people we serve—will thrive for generations to come. This is how we lead with purpose, honor those who came before us, and create a future where everyone is valued and no one is disposable.

Your donation, membership, time, and talent help us to lead with a mindset of abundance. We know it makes a difference. People thank us every single day.

Thank you for giving and being a partner in an enduring legacy. ▼ Kim Leisey, PhD, is Executive Director of CAMP Rehoboth.

NOVEMBER 21, 2025

3 Letters

inside 3 CAMP Matters KIM LEISEY, PHD

6 In Brief 8 President’s View LESLIE LEDOGAR

10 The Steve Elkins Legacy Society

A Legacy of Love and Belonging LAURIE THOMPSON

12 CAMP News

THIS ISSUE

Remember the FOURTH of November!

32 Out & About

ROBERT DEDOMINIC

Representation is Sexy ERIC PETERSON

86 Volunteer Spotlight

34 The End Is the Beginning

SOPHIE WAGNER

86 Harbingers of Autumn

Lead, Follow, or….

CHRISTOPHER MOORE

36 It’s My Life

L-R: Meryl Migdel, Laurie Kuebler, Hope Vella at the Sea Witch® Parade. For more CAMPshots see page 60.

Poll Positions

MICHAEL THOMAS FORD

40 Celebrity Interview

FAY JACOBS

MICHAEL COOK

18 Words Matter

42 CAMP Stories

CLARENCE FLUKER

RICH BARNETT

The Table Is Our Talk Show

82 Visiting View

30 Community News

16 Aging Gracelessly All Thumbs

VOLUME 35, NUMBER 10 • NOVEMBER 21, 2025

Detox Dishes

44 Intersex Solidarity Day

58 View Point

JULIAN HARBAUGH

60 CAMPshots

The Joy of Being In-Between

48 Turkey in the Straw…

The Grain of Truth

…or on the Platter

20 Health & Wellness

TERRI SCHLICHENMEYER

Gender-Affirming Care for Youth

50 Reflections

STEPHEN RASKAUSKAS

26 The Path from Tolerance to Respect

92 Deep Inside Hollywood ROMEO SAN VICENTE

94 Book ’em!

Best of All: So Easy to Wrap

A BLOCKbuster Party!

TERRI SCHLICHENMEYER

64 ‘Tis the Season!

99 We Remember

Guide to Queer Gift Giving MIKEY ROX

52 Friendsgiving

66 The Real Dirt

ON THE COVER

STEPHEN RASKAUSKAS

ERIC WAHL

Photo by Murray Archibald

The Ultimate LGBTQ+ Holiday

54 Sea Salt Table

NANCY SAKADUSKI

RICHARD ROSENDALL

RUSSELL STILES

Staying Calm During Chaos PATTIE CINELLI

The Gaying of the RB Board of Commissioners

Building on Victory

A Drift of Snow (Geese)

Egg Roulade ED CASTELLI

The Ancient Oak

Celebrating Friendsgiving

76 OUTlook

A Quantum Thanksgiving BETH SHOCKLEY

78 CAMP Arts ON THE COVER

Celebrating Friendsgiving

Gracing the cover of this issue to celebrate the spirit of Friendsgiving are Sarah Herrmann, Zane Kesler, and Taylor Hazzard. See page 52.

LOGAN FARRO, MARY JO TARALLO, JOE GFALLER

81 Booked Solid

TERRI SCHLICHENMEYER

EDITOR: Marj Shannon EDITORIAL ASSOCIATE: Matty Brown DESIGN AND LAYOUT: Mary Beth Ramsey

Letters from CAMP Rehoboth welcomes submissions.

Email editor@camprehoboth.org. Photographs must be high resolution (300 dpi). Documents should be sent as attachments in Microsoft Word®. Deadline for submissions is two weeks prior to the issue release date.

Letters to the Editor (up to 300 words) are published at the discretion of the Editor on a space-available basis.

Letters may be edited for length or clarity.

Letters 4

NOVEMBER 21, 2025

ADVERTISING SALES MANAGER: Tricia Massella DISTRIBUTION: Mark Wolf CONTRIBUTORS: Rich Barnett, Matty Brown, Ed Castelli, Pattie Cinelli, Michael Cook, Robert DeDominic, Logan Farro, Clarence Fluker, Michael Thomas Ford, Joe Gfaller, Julian Harbaugh, Fay Jacobs, Leslie Ledogar, Kim Leisey, Tricia Massella, Christopher Moore, Eric Peterson, Mary Beth Ramsey, Stephen Raskauskas, Richard Rosendall, Mikey Rox, Nancy Sakaduski, Romeo San Vicente, Terri Schlichenmeyer, Marj Shannon, Beth Shockley, Russell Stiles, Mary Jo Tarallo, Laurie Thompson, Sophie Wagner, Eric Wahl

Letters from CAMP Rehoboth is published 11 times per year, between February and December, as a program of CAMP Rehoboth Inc., a non-profit community service organization.

CAMP Rehoboth seeks to create a more positive environment of cooperation and understanding among all people. Revenue generated by advertisements supports CAMP Rehoboth’s purpose as outlined in our mission statement.

The inclusion or mention of any person, group, or business in Letters from CAMP Rehoboth does not, nor is it intended in any way, to imply sexual orientation or gender identity. The content of the columns are the views and opinions of the writers and may not indicate the position of CAMP Rehoboth, Inc. © 2025 by CAMP Rehoboth, Inc. All rights reserved by CAMP Rehoboth. No portion of this publication may be reproduced in any form without the prior written permission of the editor.

From the Editor

CAMP REHOBOTH

MISSION STATEMENT AND PURPOSE

BY MARJ SHANNON

MISSION CAMP Rehoboth is an LGBTQ+ community center determined to Create A More Positive (CAMP) environment that is inclusive of all sexual orientations and gender identities in southern Delaware and beyond. We seek to promote cooperation, understanding among all people, and well-being, as we continue our work to build a safer community with room for all.

VISION CAMP Rehoboth envisions communities in southern Delaware and beyond where all LGBTQ+ people thrive.

VALUES Community | Belonging | Positivity Diversity | Visibility | Transparency Safety | Partnership | Compassion

H

appy (upcoming) Holidays, whichever and however you celebrate! There are plenty to go around over the next several weeks—we hope you find oh-somany ways to enjoy them.

To help you find that enjoyment—and reduce some of the stress—we have two gift guides in this issue. No need to scramble for ideas! One guide focuses on books and the other, on a wide variety of options. See pages 64 and 94 for those.

More on the topic of holidays—Stephen Raskauskas covers the one that’s just about upon us: Friendsgiving. He claims it’s the ultimate LGBTQ+ holiday—read his argument and see if you agree. Meanwhile, Terri Schlichenmeyer brings us timely, seasonal news of turkeys. And lest we overlook another autumnal bird—Russell Stiles revels in the arrival of the snow geese.

We have suggestions about festive things-to-do in these pages; see CAMP Arts (page 78) to read about some of them. For one, there’s a new exhibit, Oil & Water, opening at the CAMP Rehoboth Gallery, featuring local artists Renata Price and Kathleen Fitzgerald. For another, Joe Gfaller points us toward some theater options in that same section. And while you’re there, read Mary Jo Tarallo’s profile of another CAMP Rehoboth artist—musician Richard Scalenghe.

But wait! There’s more! Not surprisingly, given these sometimes-fraught times, several of our columnists have something to say about the recent elections, hesitant journalists, and politics in general. Give a read to pieces by Fay Jacobs, Richard Rosendall, and Robert DeDominic. Michael Thomas Ford served as a poll worker on November 4; see his column for some perspectives on that experience.

PRESIDENT Leslie Ledogar VICE PRESIDENT Teri Seaton SECRETARY Pat Catanzariti TREASURER Polly Donaldson AT-LARGE DIRECTORS Amanda Mahony Albanese, Wes Combs, Lewis Dawley, Mike DeFlavia, David Garrett, Jenn Harpel, Kim Leisey (non-voting), Michelle Manfredi, Kevin Ussery, and Hope Vella EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR Kim Leisey

CAMP REHOBOTH

37 Baltimore Avenue, Rehoboth Beach, DE 19971 tel 302-227-5620 email editor@camprehoboth.org www.camprehoboth.org

In recognition of this year’s Intersex Solidarity Day (aka Intersex Day of Remembrance; November 8), Julian Harbaugh writes about the joy of being intersex. And we have a reprint from the Delaware Journal of Public Health on gender-affirming care in Delaware. Both pieces make for interesting, informative reading; check them out on pages 20 and 44.

Meanwhile, Clarence Fluker encourages us to reach toward healing and hope as we gather over the holidays, and Pattie Cinelli gives us some tips for finding calm amidst chaos. Rich Barnett and Eric Wahl wax enthusiastic about hardwoods—whether as furniture or trees.

Something to look forward to as we approach year’s end: In our December issue, we’ll be kicking-off our 2026 Flash Fiction contest—watch for it! Last year’s contest yielded some wonderful stories; we expect this year’s will do the same—perhaps yours will be among them? There will be cash prizes for the “top 5” entries, which also will be published in issues of Letters.

As always, thanks for reading! ▼

CAMP Rehoboth, Inc. is tax-exempt under section 501(c)(3) of the United States Internal Revenue Code. Contributions to CAMP Rehoboth are considered charitable contributions for federal income tax purposes and may be deducted to the fullest extent of the law. A copy of our exemption document is available for public inspection.

NOVEMBER 21, 2025

5 Letters

WORLD AIDS DAY 2025

Living In a World with HIV

O

n Sunday, November 30, the community is invited to come together to mark World AIDS Day with a service themed “Living in a World with HIV.” The event honors those lost to AIDS and celebrates the resilience of people living with HIV today, as well as those who provide care and advocacy.

The evening will begin at CAMP Rehoboth at 5:30 p.m., where attendees will gather for a Candlelight Procession to All Saints’ Church on Olive Avenue. The walk will serve as a solemn remembrance of lives lost to AIDS. At 6:00 p.m., a multi-faith and secular service will be held at All Saints’, featuring readings and reflections from community members and musical performances by the ALLIANCE singers of the CAMP Rehoboth Chorus. The program will conclude with a reception in the parish hall, offering a time for fellowship and conversation.

The event welcomes people of all ages and backgrounds. Those with limited mobility or anyone unable to participate in the procession are encouraged to join directly at All Saints’.

As part of the observance, a panel of the AIDS Memorial Quilt will again be on display. The Quilt—an enduring national symbol of love and remembrance—will provide a powerful visual backdrop during the service. Each panel commemorates individuals lost to AIDS, providing an opportunity to reflect on the historical significance of the Quilt as well as its symbolism to continue the work against HIV and AIDS today. The Quilt will be open for viewing on several dates leading up to and following the service: • Tuesday, November 24: 10:00 a.m.-4:00 p.m.

• Wednesday, November 25: 9:00 a.m.–12:00 p.m.

• Saturday, November 29: 4:00-6:00 p.m. (including a private meditation and 5:00 p.m. service) • Sunday, November 30: 7:00 a.m.-12:00 p.m. (services at 8:00 and 10:00 a.m.) and again during the 6:00 p.m. World AIDS Day service • Monday, December 1, and Tuesday, December 2: 9:00 a.m.-4:00 p.m. (private meditation)

Community members are also invited to submit names of individuals lost to the AIDS epidemic for inclusion in the Sunday program. Names must be submitted no later than Friday, November 21. The link to submit names may be found at camprehoboth.org.

This year’s World AIDS Day event is a collaborative effort, sponsored by CAMP Rehoboth, Sussex Pride, All Saints’ & St. George’s Episcopal Parish, Community Lutheran Church, Seaside Jewish Community Center, Epworth United Methodist Church, Metropolitan Community Church of Rehoboth Beach, and Westminster Presbyterian Church.

“Living in a World with HIV” reminds us that remembrance is not just about loss—it’s also about love, progress, and community.

Together, we can continue the work of compassion, education, and hope. ▼ Letters 6

NOVEMBER 21, 2025

Block Party 2025 Brings the Community Together

O

n Sunday, October 19, CAMP Rehoboth brought over 4,000 attendees for the annual Baltimore Avenue Block Party. With over 100 vendors, artisans, craftspeople, nonprofit organizations, local businesses, and restaurants participating, the sunny day brought the community together for connection, shopping, and solidarity.

“CAMP Rehoboth works to bring the community together through cooperation and understanding. As our largest outreach event of the year, the Block Party highlights the trusting and steadfast partnerships we have all across Delaware,” said Kim Leisey, PhD, Executive Director.

CAMP Rehoboth extends its gratitude to all the sponsors, vendors, performers, volunteers, and attendees for making this event such a success.

Save the date for next year’s Block Party: Sunday, October 18, 2026. ▼

See more photos from the Block Party in CAMPshots, page 60.

SAVE THE DATE

Giving Tuesday, December 2

O

n Tuesday, December 2, unleash the power of radical generosity by participating in Giving Tuesday—the national day dedicated to giving back. CAMP Rehoboth invites readers to join its campaign to “Show Up, Show Out: Celebrating Communities of Courage.”

This year, thanks to a matching gift from Jennifer Rubenstein and Diane Scobey and another grateful couple, every gift will be matched dollar for dollar up to $10,000. Visit camprehoboth.org for more information on how a gift of any size can strengthen the resilience of the LGBTQ+ community in southern Delaware and beyond. ▼

SPEAKOut Celebrating Difference Makers

C

AMP Rehoboth was a proud sponsor of the Southern Delaware Alliance for Racial Justice’s (SDARJ) Difference Makers Gala on October 25 at King’s Creek Country Club. This year, SDARJ honored the Matt Haley Trust, Hattie Bull, Waynne Paskins, and the Lewes Public Library.

CAMP Rehoboth stands with SDARJ in its vision to end racism and its corrosive consequences. For more information about SDARJ programs and events, visit SDARJ.org. ▼

Toy & Winter Clothing Drive

D

uring the holiday season, CAMP Rehoboth is partnering with the Rehoboth Beach Bears and the Kiwanis Club of Coastal Delaware to host a community toy and winter clothing drive. Community member Paul Christensen kickstarted the drive in 2008, and it’s grown to bring cheer to hundreds of local families and organizations in need.

CAMP Rehoboth, Diego’s Bar & Nightclub, Rehoboth Beach Main Street, Freddie’s Beach Bar & Restaurant, and the Auto Gallery in Lewes will serve as drop-off points for donations through Friday, December 12. For additional information on special events, drop-off locations, and this year’s beneficiaries, visit camprehoboth.org. ▼

Sea Witch® Parade—Walking with “Room for All”

C

AMP Rehoboth proudly walked the Sea Witch® Parade on Saturday, October 24, representing love, positivity, and a community built with “room for all” for tens of thousands of attendees.

Not only did walkers of the CAMP Rehoboth contingent carry a 50-footlong Inclusive Pride Flag, but representatives from the LGBTQ+ Veterans Group—some in uniform—joined with a banner of their own to give representation to the LGBTQ+ servicemembers and military veterans in the community.

Thank you to the contingent of over 30 walkers who joined CAMP Rehoboth to share the joy and inclusive spirit with the community! ▼ CORRECTIONS ⊲ In the September 19 issue, Letters noted that the recent election of Rehoboth Beach City Commissioners Chris Galanty and Susan Stewart marked the first time the commission holds a majority (four of the six) of LGBTQ+-identifying commissioners. This was inaccurate. As former Commissioner Tim Bennett shared, “As recently as 2023-2024, a majority of the commissioners identified as LGBTQ with Tim Bennett, Edward Chrzanowski, Patrick Gossett, and Don Preston all serving together as city commissioners and holding an LGBTQ majority on the board.”

In the October 17 issue, veteran Bert Kubli’s name was misspelled. It has been corrected in the online issue.

“We have way more kids now who are functionally illiterate.”

—Tim Daly, CEO of EdNavigator

Those ten words should shake every Delaware parent, teacher, and policymaker awake.

As Nancy Mercante, founder of Citizens for Delaware Schools and contributor to the Caesar Rodney Institute, wrote this week, Delaware’s literacy and math crisis “is both a state and a national tragedy—one that diminishes generations of children’s potential, dignity, and opportunity.”

New data confirm what teachers already know: only 41% of Delaware students in grades 3–8 are proficient in reading and 34% in math. Among 11th graders taking the SAT, just 18% met math standards. These numbers are not statistics, they are the measure of a system that has lost its focus on teaching children how to read.

Mercante and the Caesar Rodney Institute’s Center for Education Policy, led by Dr. Tanya Hettler, have been clear about the path forward: Delaware must fully implement the Science of Reading now, not by 2028. As Hettler warned, every year of delay leaves thousands more students unable to read at grade level.

We don’t need to reinvent the wheel.

Mississippi, once ranked near the bottom nationally, adopted the Science of Reading a decade ago and within six years achieved what educators call “the Mississippi Miracle.”

By focusing on phonics-based instruction, retraining teachers, and holding districts accountable, Mississippi moved from 49th to 21st in national reading scores.

Delaware can do the same, but only if we act with the same urgency and discipline.

As Mercante wrote, “Declaring a literacy emergency is a start, but Delaware’s 12-year decline demands far more.”

The Caesar Rodney Institute and Citizens for Delaware Schools have given our state the blueprint. Now it’s time for Delaware’s leaders to follow it and give every child the gift of literacy.

– Michelle Parsons, Fenwick Island, DE Send letters to the editor (up to 300 words) to editor@camprehoboth.com NOVEMBER 21, 2025

7 Letters

President’s View

BY LESLIE LEDOGAR

Upcoming Changes

C

To CAMP Rehoboth’s Board of Directors

AMP Rehoboth’s Board of Directors is purposefully term-limited to ensure that the Board is able to recruit new talent and ideas, while ensuring continuity of mission and purpose. Each Board member serves a term of three years, with the option of either rotating off at the end of their first term or serving a second term. Thereafter, a former Board member must take a year off before applying to return to the Board.

That is not to say that we reconstitute the entire Board every year. Rather, Board members rotate on and off the Board in staggered “classes.” Each class consists of three, and sometimes four Board members. Additionally, each Board member has the option to reup or rotate off any time during their term.

As Board President, I have the bittersweet obligation to say farewell to those Board Members who are rotating off at the end of 2025, and the distinct honor of welcoming those new members who have agreed to serve and whose membership the Board has affirmed.

LOST BUT NOT FORGOTTEN, AND ETERNALLY APPRECIATED

Amanda Mahony Albanese is rotating off the Board after serving two years.

As a psychotherapist, yoga instructor, LGBTQ+ ally, writer, wife, and brand-new mother to a beautiful baby girl, Amanda brought joyfulness and creativity to the Development Committee and to the Board as a whole. One of Amanda’s greatest accomplishments as a Director-At-Large was to become certified in LGBTQIA+-affirmative Cognitive Behavioral Therapy through a collaborative program between CenterLink and the Yale University LGBTQ Mental Health Initiative. Amanda brought extensive expertise in mental health, self-care, and communications/ Letters 8

NOVEMBER 21, 2025

marketing to the Board. We wish her continued professional success as a psychotherapist, and we wish all the best to her husband and baby daughter.

Wes Combs is rotating off the Board after two full terms, including stints as Board Vice President and Chair of the Governance Committee, Board President, Board Past President, and Chair of the Board’s Ad Hoc Contingency Planning Committee. Wes’s expertise in communications and talent for organizational performance were invaluable in leading CAMP Rehoboth in its transformation to an organization that is now co-led by a strategic-minded Board and a strong Executive Director.

Wes’s exuberance, coupled with his unwavering belief in our organization, gave us the energy and wings to soar and the direction in which to do so. We thank Wes and his husband for their donations of both time and treasure and wish them well as they continue their ongoing journey to make the world a better place.

… we again thank those leaders and friends who are rotating off the Board for their leadership, commitment, compassion, and dedication.

Lewis Dawley is rotating off the Board after one full term. Lewis’s extensive management experience as an executive with a global leader in the hospitality industry, combined with his calm, strategic thinking, proved invaluable as CAMP Rehoboth streamlined its best practices, expanded its capacity to hire new talent, and looked strategically and intentionally into the future. His leadership on the

SUNFESTIVAL Committee and on the Board’s Governance Committee helped make both committees even more effective and efficient than when he first joined them. We appreciate Lewis’s wisdom and contributions as we embark on a new chapter in the future of CAMP Rehoboth.

Mike DeFlavia is rotating off the board after two full terms, including service on the Board’s Development Committee and as the Board Secretary.

Mike’s expertise as a thought leader, creative strategist, and expert in direct marketing for nonprofit organizations proved invaluable to the Board as we fully transitioned from a working board to a governing board. On the fun side, Mike and his husband’s annual, colorcoordinated pool party continues to be a no-miss event and we appreciate the funds that Mike has raised doing this and other events on behalf of CAMP Rehoboth. His creativity on the decorating team for SUNFESTIVAL was also amazing. We wish Mike and his husband much continued professional and personal success.

GAINED, WITH EXCITEMENT AND GRATITUDE

Lorne Crawford brings more than 40 years of experience in sales, marketing, and public engagement to the Board. He has spent his career communicating with diverse audiences, managing events, and building partnerships. Many of us associate Lorne as the “voice” of the Womens+ FEST and SUNFESTIVAL live auctions, through which he has developed strong connections within the Rehoboth Beach community and beyond.

We look forward to leveraging Lorne’s understanding of how to promote, fundraise, and energize people around a cause—skills that directly support CAMP Rehoboth’s mission of outreach and inclusion. Welcome, Lorne!

We also look forward to working with our next class of leaders, who we hope will help us continue to succeed on our upward trajectory of growth and community building.

Rachel Hershe joins the Board as an experienced executive in LGBTQ+ health care and nonprofit administration (she is currently the CEO of La Red Health Center in Georgetown). In her words, “there is no separating feelings of inclusion and equity with healthcare access and wellness.” As healthcare is one of the four pillars of CAMP Rehoboth, we hope that Rachel can help CAMP Rehoboth connect with the health and wellness work happening in central and western Sussex, thereby building a bridge across the region to strengthen access, visibility, and community support. Welcome, Rachel!

Joe Vescio is a familiar face at CAMP Rehoboth. As a CAMPcierge for four years, Joe is often the first person one meets when walking in the door at CAMP Rehoboth, and in that capacity, he has learned all about the areas of support that CAMP Rehoboth provides. He also leads the CROP Program, volunteers for the HIV/ syphilis testing program, and sings in the CAMP Rehoboth Chorus. Joe honed his leadership skills at the US Environmental Protection Agency, where he was the leader/coordinator of the National Continuity of Operations program. He also has connections with the volunteer coordinators of several other local organizations

and with local business owners. We look forward to working with Joe to leverage his leadership skills to help us build strategic connections with a variety of groups and constituents. Welcome, Joe! As we move through the fourth quarter of 2025, we again thank those leaders and friends who are rotating off the Board for their leadership, commitment, compassion, and dedication. We also look forward to working with our next class of leaders, who we hope will help us continue to succeed on our upward trajectory of growth and community building. ▼

Leslie Ledogar is CAMP Rehoboth Board President.

M A KE A M EA N I NG FU L DI F FE R E N CE W I T H

Your Required Minimum Distribution If you’re 73 or older, your Required Minimum Distribution (RMD) can be more than just a financial obligation.

To Learn More or Make Your RMD Gift: Call us! Contact Laurie Thompson, 302-227-5620, or via email at laurie@camprehoboth.org

37 Baltimore Avenue, Rehoboth Beach, DE 19971 302.227.5620 | camprehoboth.org NOVEMBER 21, 2025

9 Letters

The Steve Elkins Legacy Society

BY LAURIE THOMPSON

Continuing a Legacy of Love and Belonging

W

Planned gifts… provide stability, sustainability, and a way to carry forward the values and vision of our community.

hen I joined CAMP Rehoboth a little over three years ago, one of my goals was to create a Planned Giving Society—a way for people who care about this community to help sustain its mission for generations to come. This year, that goal became a reality.

Working with our Development Committee, we explored many ideas for naming this new society. One name quickly rose to the top: The Steve Elkins Legacy Society. Before moving forward, I met with Murray Archibald to see how he felt about honoring Steve in this way. After sharing some special memories of Steve, Murray gave his wholehearted blessing and offered his support—a gesture that was both moving and meaningful.

Naming the society for Steve reflects the values he and Murray built into CAMP Rehoboth. From the start, they envisioned CAMP Rehoboth as the heart of the community, a place where everyone could feel safe, welcomed, and loved. The Steve Elkins Legacy Society carries that vision forward, inviting members, friends, and supporters to ensure CAMP Rehoboth thrives well into the future.

Special thanks to Monica Smith and her Marketsmith Marketing team for helping bring this vision to life. Together, we’ve created materials celebrating the generosity of five incredible supporters: Kim Nelson and Lori Simmons, Leslie Hegamaster, and Chris Beagle and Eric Engelhart. Their stories reflect what inspired them to include CAMP Rehoboth in their legacy plans. Over the coming months, we’ll be sharing their voices so the community can hear why

CAMP Rehoboth means so much to them.

Planned gifts are about more than numbers. They provide stability, sustainability, and a way to carry forward the values and vision of our community. They ensure that the heart of this community continues beating strong long after we’re gone.

As the only LGBTQ+ community center in the region, CAMP Rehoboth is committed to inclusivity across all sexual orientations and gender identities in southern Delaware and beyond. Our work is guided by core values such as community, belonging, diversity, transparency, and compassion.

In keeping with these values, we’ve created a recognition society to honor individuals who make this extraordinary commitment. There’s no greater gift than when someone chooses to leave a legacy to an organization that has touched their life. Donors can decide whether to be recognized publicly or remain private; we meet people where they are comfortable.

As we launch the Steve Elkins Legacy Society, I’d love to hear from you. Your ideas, stories, and hopes for CAMP Rehoboth’s future will help guide us as we plan the next chapter together.

If you’d like to explore how your legacy could shape the future of CAMP Rehoboth, I would be honored to meet with you to discuss the lasting impact your gift can have. ▼ Laurie Thompson is CAMP Rehoboth’s Development Manager, overseeing all development, fundraising, and donor relations. She can be reached via email at laurie@camprehoboth.org or call 302-227-5620.

CAMP REHOBOTH THANKS OUR ANNUAL SPONSORS

For information on how to become a CAMP Rehoboth Annual Sponsor, email development@camprehoboth.org or call 302-227-5620.

Letters 10

NOVEMBER 21, 2025

JOIN THE

Steve Elkins

LEGACY SOCIETY—Make a Lasting Difference Your planned gift provides stability and sustainability to CAMP Rehoboth and helps strengthen programs that promote Health, Safety, and Belonging. Gifts of any size make a difference.

Include CAMP Rehoboth in your estate plans and become part of a future built on inclusion and community.

“We envisioned CAMP Rehoboth as the heart of the community.

CAMP Rehoboth became a gift to the community around us.”

—Murray Archibald, CAMP Rehoboth Co-Founder

GIVE NOW

Contact our Development Manager, Laurie Thompson, at Laurie@CAMPRehoboth.org to learn more about ways to give. CAMPRehoboth.org/PlannedGiving EIN # 51-0331962 © CAMP Rehoboth 2025

Hosting a birthday party? Conference?

Board meeting?

Summer potluck?

Performance?

The Elkins-Archibald Atrium is the perfect place for your event.

Hold your next event in CAMP Rehoboth’s Atrium!

Ask us about rates and availability.

Call 302-227-5620.

37 Baltimore Ave Rehoboth Beach, DE camprehoboth.org

NOVEMBER 21, 2025

11 Letters

CAMP News

Women’s+ FEST 2026 Announces First Slate of Performers

W

omen’s+ FEST will celebrate a remarkable milestone in 2026: its silver anniversary! That’s right—for 25 years, Women’s+ FEST has brought fun, entertainment, spring, and tradition for all those on the spectrum of the feminine spirit.

To kick off the fun, CAMP Rehoboth is excited to announce two electric performers coming to Women’s+ FEST: Mina Hartong and Yoli Mayor.

International headliner Mina Hartong is a comedian, storyteller, and founder of Lez Out Loud;

Women in Circle— Holiday Potluck!

J

oin Women in Circle on December 6 to celebrate with a Holiday Potluck!

This is a great time to connect with old friends and soon-to-be friends and come together as a community to share a meal. The potluck will be a part of the group’s December 6 meeting. Bring a dish to share and enjoy a warm, welcoming space with Women in Circle.▼

Now Featured at the RB Museum!

A

fter replacing its front porch sign in late summer, CAMP Rehoboth has donated its previous sign to the Rehoboth Beach Museum for display.

The sign joins the museum’s collection of Rehoboth Beach landmarks and business signs and hangs over the staircase to the second floor.

Visit the museum during its winter hours of Friday (10:00 a.m.-4:00 p.m.), and Saturday or Sunday (10:00 a.m.-2:00 p.m.) to take a look. ▼

Letters 12

NOVEMBER 21, 2025

she’s the fun lesbian aunt you always wanted. She headlined for Olivia Travel in Tahiti and Greece aboard the exclusive Windstar and Amazara Cruise Lines and toured New York City, Los Angeles, and Palm Springs with her sold-out show Miss Personality.

Offstage, Mina teaches in public schools, coaches emerging comedians, and dreams of the day she can call comedy her only day job. Her first comedy special, Miss Personality, was filmed in January 2025 and is coming to streaming in 2026.

Born and raised in Miami, Florida, Yoli Mayor has mastered a fusion of sounds as multicultural as her hometown. The 26-year-old singer first gained her voice through The Magic City’s burgeoning underground music scene, quickly becoming a regular at community

events, open mics, and intimate venues around town. Her trademark Latin-Pop sound earned the attention of award-winning publications like The Miami Herald, The Huffington Post, and Downtown Magazine (NYC) who dubbed her as “The Cuban Adele.” Partnering with award-winning local musicians and producers, she eventually came into her own, finding her unique, passion-fueled voice.

Stay tuned for exciting announcements related to Women’s+ FEST 2026 at camprehoboth.org/events. ▼

SAVE THE DATE:

CAMP Rehoboth Chorus Presents “I Am Woman”

C

AMP Rehoboth Chorus will highlight songs composed by women, performed by women, and celebrating women with its first 2026 concert, “I Am Woman,” staged over Valentine’s Day weekend, February 13-15. This concert features songs of resilience and strength—“I Will Survive,” “This Is Me,” and the concert’s namesake, “I Am Woman.” Classic artists like Peggy Lee, Dianna Ross, and Dolly Parton are featured, as well as newer artists Taylor

Swift, Alicia Keys, and Lady Gaga. Tickets for this concert will be available in late December at camprehoboth.org.

The newest addition to the Chorus—a women’s a capella ensemble called WomenKind—will perform for the first time at this concert. This group has been rehearsing diligently under the direction of Jeff Burhmann and will be available for outreach activities and performances.

WomenKind will stage its first-ever concert in April. ▼

Thank You, Dogfish Head!

O

n October 8, Dogfish Brewings and Eats hosted a Dine & Donate night, where portions of the night’s sales benefitted CAMP Rehoboth. This festive evening allowed CAMP Rehoboth to connect with community members and was part of Dogfish’s longstanding Beer & Benevolence program.

Thank you to all community members, local patrons, and Dogfish Head for supporting CAMP Rehoboth! ▼

Pictured: Anita Gossett, raffle winner

2026 EVENTS Save The Dates For more than 30 years CAMP Rehoboth has served the LGBTQ+ and wider community in Sussex County. We rely on the generous support of businesses, corporations, foundations, members, donors, and volunteers to fulfill our vision to create proud and safe communities where gender identity and sexual orientation are respected.

WE INVITE YOU TO JOIN US FOR OUR UPCOMING 2026 EVENTS

April 9 - 12, 2026

LABOR DAY WEEKEND September 5 & 6, 2026

THANK YOU! Your support ensures that we can continue outreach to advocate and educate within the LGBTQ+ community. For more information and for sponsorship opportunities, please contact Event and Volunteer Coordinator Sophie Wagner at swagner@camprehoboth.org.

2024

Sunday, October 18, 2026

302.227.5620 camprehoboth.org 37 Baltimore Avenue Rehoboth Beach DE 19971

NOVEMBER 21, 2025

13 Letters

C A MP R EH O B O T H TH ANK S OUR S P ON S ORS , VE N D O R S, V O L U NT E ERS, A ND A T T EN DE E S FOR MA KI N G B L O C K PART Y 2025 A MA J OR S UC C E S S !

P R E S E NTI NG S P O NSOR

S A PPH I R E SP ON S OR

ANN UAL SPO N SO R

E M E R A LD S P ON S O R S

RUBY SPO N SO R

S U PP OR T I N G S PO N S O R S

37 BA LT IMOR E A VE NUE, R EH OBOTH BE A CH , D E 19 9 71 302. 22 7. 5 62 0 | CAMP R EHOB OTH. ORG

Letters 14

NOVEMBER 21, 2025

CA M P REH OBOT H T HAN K S O UR V O L U N TE ERS FOR M AK IN G B LO CK P A RT Y 202 5 A M AJO R SU CC E S S!

K R IS AU L EN B AC H, DA V I D BA R T HO LO ME W, C HR IS BE A GL E , LI LLIA N BER EN BE R G, SC O TT B UR DE TT E , J OE B U RT O N, R I CK B US KE, J E T T B U TTER W O R TH , T O R I C O A N, ME L I S S A D A NS KI N, MA R K E UBA NKS, L O G A N F A R R O , M I C HA E L FE TC HK O, M ARVI N G A R C I A , S A M GE R B I NO , B R I A N HE LS DON , F A Y J A C O B S , L E S L I E LE DO GA R , K I M L O K HA R D, L I Z L OK HA R D , MI C HE L L E M A NF R E D I , V I N CE NT M A R S HA L L , S HE RRI M C GE E , D I A NE M E A D , J I M ME A S E , BEVERL Y M I L L E R , G E O R G E M UN S O N , S O NA N A T HAN , PA T NI CK O L S , DO T T I O UT LA ND , KE VI N PE L L A ND , E R I C PE T E R S O N , K E I T H PET RA CK, JA M E S PO L , B O NNI E Q UE S E NB E R R Y , B A R B A R A R A L P H, A M E L I A R I LE Y , D OU G S E L L E R S , M A R K S HA W, L E S L I E SI N C LA IR, L A UR I E SN Y DE R, KA TH Y S O L A N O , L ORRA I NE S T A NI S H, K A T T A KA C S , G A I L TA NN EN BA UM , K E V I N U SS E R Y, C HA R L E S V A N D E R G RIF T , J E N N IF E R V A R O N E , I S A B E L L E WA GNE R, WE N DY WA L KE R , D E B B I E W O O D S , JOHN Z I NG O .

CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS

y r t e o PJam

CAMP REHOBOTH

February 2026

Fri. 27, 7pm & Sat. 28, 3pm Submissions to be sent to: poetry@camprehoboth.org Submission deadline: November 30, 2025 This organization is supported, in part, by a grant from the Delaware Division of the Arts, a state agency, in partnership with the National Endowment for the Arts. The Division promotes Delaware arts events on www.DelawareScene.com NOVEMBER 21, 2025

15 Letters

Aging Gracelessly

BY FAY JACOBS

All Thumbs

I

t’s one week from deadline and my computer is away from home for a technical facelift.

Naturally, now, I get an idea for a column.

So, amid a raging case of separation anxiety for my Hewlett Packard, I am turning to my iPhone to thumb this missive.

Actually, this is the second time I’ve done this. The first was in 2014, deadline eve, when I thumbed a column about Darwin and suckling seals from the Galapagos Islands. That was a much happier column.

But at this 2025 moment, I’m ashamed to be a former newspaper reporter and editor, albeit one relying on opposable thumbs to create my screed. I’m sad and disappointed with all the legendary print outlets like the Boston Globe, New York Times, Chicago Tribune, etc. which are rolling over and playing, if not dead, on life support, obeying in advance to the MAGA administration.

Major newspapers are publishing tepid and cowardly coverage, practically normalizing the cruel and mostly illegal activities of the MAGA madmen destroying our nation.

Instead, I long to see 72-point headlines screaming: TRUMP ILLEGALLY FIRES ON FISHING BOATS ICE DEPORTS RESIDENTS WITH NO DUE PROCESS PERMITS IGNORED; EAST WING DESTROYED MAGA ATTACKS TRANS PEOPLE FOR SPORT But no, editors and reporters bury the egregious acts and shocking actions “below the fold” literally and figuratively.

They minimize and almost normalize administration activities which are increasingly illegal and horrifying. This makes the press complicit.

In fact, at the Washington Post, the newspaper formerly known as respectable, editorial staff representing the paper’s MAGA ownership write flowery essays extolling a White House ballroom as news staff, still claiming independence, Letters 16

NOVEMBER 21, 2025

wimp out covering children about to starve.

Look, I know the media is under threat of punishment and litigation. It’s scary and evil. Just ask former FBI head James Comey or New York prosecutor Leticia James, who now need bodyguards and expensive lawyers.

Lots of podcasters, TV personalities, and folks on social media are…hollering, screaming, and telling the unvarnished truth. But what about our newspapers…?

But c’mon, seven million resisters hit the streets on October 18 and all of us, plus countless millions more, want the free press to speak freely and loudly for us! (My thumbs are swelling and turning red.…)

Why can’t major city newspapers coordinate, vowing to have identical, rousing headlines for 10 days running to bring people the truth? Hell, I know most people don’t read newspapers anymore, but maybe they’ll accidentally see the headlines in WaWa. The newspapers should all bravely publish: TRUMP LIES ON ICE RAID LEGALITY

GOP BUILDS BALLROOM AS FAMILIES STARVE TRUMP TARIFFS KILL AMERICAN JOBS HEALTH INSURANCE RATES TO SKYROCKET Okay, at this point I’m just giving myself carpal tunnel syndrome and spewing. But seriously, why can’t our newspapers of record spell out the truth in print?

Lots of podcasters, TV personalities, and folks on social media are doing just that—hollering, screaming, and telling the unvarnished truth. But what about our newspapers, digital or print? While they are not reporting fake news, it certainly seems faint and filtered by fear. Where’s the editorial backbone?

Thumbs up to past publisher Ben Frankln. And W.E.B. Dubois, who wrote in the 1920s; A.M. Rosenthall, 1950s publisher of the New York Times; and from the Washington Post of Christmas Past, my heroes Woodward/Bernstein, Katharine Graham, and Ben Bradley.

Back in the day, fearless editors published these massive historical headlines: KLANSMEN INDICTED IN MISSISSIPPI NIXON WHITE HOUSE IGNORES SUBPOENAS “I DID NOT HAVE SEXUAL RELATIONS WITH THAT WOMAN” NIXON AIDES SABOTAGED DEMOCRATS U.S. LINKED TO SECRET IRAN ARMS SALE Come on. Let’s ask the free press to act free and help bring down this shameless attack on democracy before they lose their freedom and we lose ours.

Somebody help us! Journalists, do your jobs!

(Somebody get me some ice for these thumbs.) ▼ Fay Jacobs is a freelance writer, storyteller, and author of six books of (mostly) comic essays. She has written for the Washington Post, Baltimore Sun, The Advocate, the Washington Blade, Delaware Beach Life, and—for 30 years—Letters.

CAMP Rehoboth Library Open Monday - Friday, 2 - 4 PM Featuring hundreds of LGBTQ+ titles in fiction, LGBTQ+ history, performing arts, and more!

Special thanks to volunteer Glenn Lash for organizing the CAMP Rehoboth Library!

Please note: CAMP Rehoboth is no longer accepting donations to the CAMP Rehoboth Library after reaching capacity. Find out more online at camprehoboth.org/programs.

NOVEMBER 21, 2025

17 Letters

Words Matter

BY CLARENCE FLUKER

The Table Is Our Talk Show

L

ike many people my age, I loved The Oprah Winfrey Show.

It was an afternoon staple in our house for years. I grew up watching it almost every day during the school year. When the show reached its finale, I was an adult and living in the world on my own. I hated to see it go. Her consistent conversations with a diversity of people and the topics she shed light on and humanized had in some ways been the small window through which so many people got to see a different point of view of the world. I’ll never forget sitting quietly during her last episode in May of 2011 and truly listening to her as she spoke direct to camera about her incredible journey from a poor African American girl to one of the richest and most influential women to grace this planet.

What really stood out to me about that speech, and it may be even more relevant today in this tenuous social and political climate than it was then, are these words from Ms. Winfrey: “You let me into your homes to talk to you every day. This is what you allowed me to do, and I thank you for that. But what I want you to know as this show ends: Each one of you has your own platform. Do not let the trappings here fool you. Mine is a stage in a studio, yours is wherever you are with your own reach, however small or however large that reach is. Maybe it’s 20 people, maybe it’s 30 people, 40 people, your family, your friends, your neighbors, your classmates, your classroom, your co-workers.

Wherever you are, that is your platform, your stage, your circle of influence. That is your talk show, and that is where your power lies.” She continued, “My great wish for all of you who have allowed me to honor my calling through this show is that you carry whatever you’re supposed to be doing, carry that forward and don’t waste any more time. Start embracing the life that is calling you and use your life to serve the world.”

As the holiday season approaches, we’ll be gathering with colleagues,

Letters 18

NOVEMBER 21, 2025

Our social fabric depends on ordinary people daring to have extraordinary grace in how we listen and speak to one another.

friends, family, and faith congregations to break bread and socialize. There will be staff holiday parties, family dinners, religious gatherings. These will all be opportunities to thoughtfully show up, engage authentically, and contribute to conversations with people in our circles of influence. Each one of us has a voice.

Each one of us has the potential to change our block, change our neighborhood, change our city, change our state and ultimately—change our world. One conversation and interaction at a time.

It is naïve to think that one conversation alone may change someone’s deeply seated opinions and beliefs on a social or political issue. But it is not impossible to think that one respectful and safe space for dialogue in which two people are allowed to have competing thoughts can open the door for each side to ask questions and at the very least get a better understanding of the other’s perspective. Difficult, challenging, but not impossible. Hearing someone in dialogue is a base level goal in conversation. Seeing the other person is a stretch goal, a valuable one; it is the one that will bring us closer together.

To push the conversations forward— that will push us all forward—we are the ones we’ve been waiting for. We are waiting on ourselves, as individuals, to rise as a mighty collective force and hold each other up and hold each other accountable for living up to the highest

ideals of what makes America great already.

When you gather at the table this year, listen to understand, not to respond. Lead with curiosity, not judgement. Even if you disagree, reply with respect, not disregard.

If there was ever a time to reclaim the spirit of empathy and curiosity that Oprah modeled on her stage, it is now.

Our social fabric depends on ordinary people daring to have extraordinary grace in how we listen and speak to one another. Every small act of understanding—every moment we choose patience over pride—strengthens the invisible ties that hold us together as neighbors, citizens, and human beings.

So, as we pass the dishes and share our stories this season, may we also share the responsibility of healing and hope. The table is our platform now—our daily talk show. And in every exchange, we have the power to make the world a little more connected, compassionate, and whole. ▼ Clarence J. Fluker is a public affairs and social impact strategist. Since 2008, he’s also been a contributing writer for Swerv, a lifestyle periodical celebrating African American LGBTQ+ culture and community. Follow him on Instagram: @Mr_CJFluker.

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19 Letters

health+wellness

BY STEPHEN RASKAUSKAS

The Policy and Public Health Implications of Protecting Gender-Affirming Care for Delaware Youth

G

Reprinted with permission of the Delaware Journal of Public Health ender-affirming care (GAC) for youth is a medically necessary and evidence-based approach that supports the mental, emotional, and physical well-being of transgender and gender-diverse individuals. In the current legislative climate, both nationally and within Delaware, these services are increasingly targeted by restrictive laws and policy proposals, many of which affect trans youth disproportionately. As healthcare professionals, policymakers, and public health institutions grapple with the future of GAC for youth, it is imperative to understand the components of this essential care, and the implications of protecting it for patients, care-providers, and institutions.

UNDERSTANDING GENDER-AFFIRMING CARE FOR YOUTH

According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services1 and leading medical bodies such as the American Academy of Pediatrics,2 the Endocrine Society,3 and the American Medical Association,4 gender-affirming care (GAC) is a crucial, evidence-based component of healthcare for transgender and gender-diverse individuals.

While GAC is tailored to each individual’s needs and developmental stages, many healthcare providers and institutions follow the Standards of Care for the Health of Transsexual, Transgender, and Gender Nonconforming People, Version 8 (SOC8) issued by the World Professional Association for Transgender Health (WPATH).5 For youth, SOC-8 outlines broad kinds of GAC, including: 1. Mental Health Support (All Ages) Across all developmental stages for trans individuals, affirming mental health care is foundational. Providers support youth as they explore their identities, navigate family and school dynamics, and manage mental health conditions such as depression or anxiety, which Letters 20

NOVEMBER 21, 2025

occur at disproportionately high rates in this population.6 2. Social Affirmation (Prepubescent Children) For prepubescent children, interventions are typically non-medical.

SOC-8 endorses social transition when appropriate, including changes in name, pronouns, hairstyle, and clothing.7 Therapy for both the child and family is prioritized to foster understanding and resilience.

3. Puberty Blockers (Early Adolescents) At the onset of puberty (Tanner stage 2), youth experiencing gender dysphoria may be eligible for reversible puberty suppression using gonadotropin-releasing hormone agonists (GnRHa).8 This intervention halts the development of unwanted secondary sex characteristics and provides additional time for gender identity exploration. GnRHa therapy is considered safe and effective when monitored by multidisciplinary specialists.

4. Hormone Therapy (Older Adolescents) For some older adolescents — typically around age 16, but sometimes earlier under careful clinical oversight — gender-affirming hormone therapy (GAHT) may be initiated.9 Eligibility requires persistent, well-documented gender dysphoria, mental health assessment, and the capacity to provide informed assent or consent with parental or guardian approval, depending on jurisdiction.

5. Surgical Interventions (Rare and Exceptional) Genital surgeries are almost never performed on minors.

In rare and exceptional cases, some adolescents may undergo chest (top) surgery if they have persistent gender dysphoria and meet rigorous clinical criteria. Genital surgeries are generally deferred until adulthood, except in cases of severe psychological distress and with multidisciplinary clinical and legal oversight.10 A significant source of opposition

to gender-affirming care centers on exaggerated fears of irreversible surgeries, especially genital surgeries, on minors. Opponents often use inflammatory rhetoric such as “genital mutilation” to stoke public anxiety.

However, this framing misrepresents clinical realities and risks obstructing access to vital care.

A significant source of opposition to genderaffirming care centers on exaggerated fears of irreversible surgeries, especially genital surgeries, on minors.

In truth, surgical interventions for minors are exceedingly rare and carefully regulated. The vast majority of gender-affirming treatments provided to youth involve reversible or partially reversible steps (social affirmation, puberty blockers, and hormone therapy) administered under strict clinical protocols.11 Genital surgeries are reserved almost exclusively for legal adults, with exceptions requiring persistent, well-documented gender dysphoria, demonstrated emotional and cognitive maturity, multidisciplinary clinical support, thorough informed consent by the minor and guardians, and urgent medical necessity.12 GAC is not synonymous with surgery among any age group. Rather, GAC is a holistic approach that affirms a person’s identity and supports their development within a compassionate, trauma-informed framework. Conflating rare surgical cases with all gender-affirming care fuels policies that undermine the lifesaving benefits of non-surgical care and contributes to stigma and misinformation.

As a result, many young transgender and

health+wellness

BY STEPHEN RASKAUSKAS

…access to GAC for minors in Delaware is increasingly threatened by legislative backlash, federal preemption, and potential legal challenges to state-level protections. gender diverse individuals are denied or at risk of losing broad categories of care based on fear rather than evidence.

Such blanket bans place youth at risk of worsened mental health outcomes, including increased suicidality.

Despite politicized narratives, gender-affirming care is neither rushed nor experimental. It is guided by wellestablished protocols, multiple layers of assessment, and continuous monitoring.

Most interventions in minors are reversible or partially reversible, and all require comprehensive evaluation.

A growing body of research confirms that access to gender-affirming care improves mental health outcomes among transgender youth. Benefits include lower rates of depression and anxiety, reduced suicidality, and improved self-esteem.13 Transgender teens who received puberty blockers were 70% less likely to experience suicidal ideation than those who desired but were denied access to such care.14 LEGAL AND LEGISLATIVE THREATS TO GENDER-AFFIRMING CARE FOR DELAWARE YOUTH

Delaware has long positioned itself as a champion for LGBTQ+ rights, including safeguarding the health and dignity of transgender youth. Since 2013, state law has prohibited discrimination based on gender identity across employment, housing, and public accommodations including healthcare.15 A 2018 ban on conversion therapy for minors further reinforced the state’s progressive stance.16 In 2016 and 2020, the Delaware Department of Insurance declared that Medicaid and most private insurers must cover gender-affirming care..17 Despite these protections, access to GAC for minors in Delaware is increasingly threatened by legislative backlash, federal preemption, and potential legal challenges to state-level protections.

In 2025, during the first session of

the 153rd General Assembly, legislators introduced Senate Bill 55 (SB 55), known as the Delaware Save Adolescents from Experimentation (SAFE) Act.18 This bill proposes a broad prohibition on gender-affirming medical care for minors (including non-surgical treatments such as puberty blockers and hormone therapy) with narrow exceptions for intersex youth. It would also classify such care as “unprofessional conduct,” potentially subjecting healthcare providers to licensure sanctions.

Earlier efforts, such as SB 315, similarly aimed to restrict public and private insurance coverage for gender transition procedures in minors and sought to label such practices as grounds for professional discipline.

19 These bills align with a national trend of legislation targeting trans healthcare under the guise of protecting children, despite being starkly at odds with guidance from leading medical organizations, including the American Academy of Pediatrics, American Medical Association, and World Professional Association for Transgender Health.

GAC is not synonymous with surgery among any age group. Rather, GAC is a holistic approach that affirms a person’s identity and supports their development within a compassionate, traumainformed framework.

In response, Governor Matt Meyer issued Executive Order 11 on June 20, 2025, declaring Delaware a “shield state” for gender-affirming care. The order protects “any medically necessary healthcare or treatment consistent with current clinical standards of care

prescribed by a licensed healthcare provider for the treatment of a condition related to the individual’s gender identity and that is legal under Delaware law.”20 EO 11 also prohibits Delaware agencies, contractors, and professional licensing boards from cooperating with out-of-state legal actions, including subpoenas, investigations, and extradition requests, targeting providers or recipients of gender-affirming care that is legal in Delaware. Furthermore, it Instructs professional boards not to penalize licensed practitioners for delivering or referring gender-affirming care consistent with Delaware law, and protects any “individual who provided, received, inquired about, responded to, assisted with, or traveled to Delaware for gender-affirming care.” The order also reinforces protections for the confidentiality of medical records involving GAC, shielding them from unauthorized disclosures in cross-jurisdictional proceedings.

While EO 11 positions Delaware among a handful of states actively protecting gender-affirming care, it is not immune to challenge. Under Delaware’s constitutional structure, the General Assembly possesses multiple tools to challenge, override, or restrict the impact of the executive order.

The Assembly may pass legislation that directly contradicts or narrows the scope of EO 11. If the Governor vetoes such legislation, the Assembly can override the veto with a two-thirds vote in each chamber, thereby enacting the measure into law despite executive opposition. While courts primarily review the constitutionality of executive actions, the legislature can also authorize litigation challenging the executive order or enact laws that form the basis for judicial review, such as clarifying statutory limits on gubernatorial authority over healthcare policy. Lastly, Delaware lawmakers could introduce legislation to institutionalize a review process for executive Continued on page 22 NOVEMBER 21, 2025

21 Letters

health+wellness Continued from page 21

orders, allowing the Assembly to vote to disapprove or repeal executive actions by statute.

These mechanisms highlight the fragility of EO 11’s protections. They may be undone with shifts in legislative leadership or political priorities.

At the federal level, threats persist that threaten local protections. In January 2025, President Trump issued Executive Order 14187, barring federal funds—including grants and contracts—from entities that provide gender-affirming care to anyone under 19.21 This encompasses a vast range of institutions such as hospitals, clinics, schools, and community-based organizations.

Although two federal court cases, PFLAG, Inc. v. Trump and Washington v.

Trump, resulted in preliminary injunctions, one nationwide and the other limited to four states, the legal landscape remains uncertain. Appeals are ongoing, and the threat of eventual enforcement looms over institutions and providers even in supportive states like Delaware.

Recently, H.R. 1, the so-called “One Big Beautiful Bill Act,” sought to eliminate Medicaid and CHIP coverage for all gender-affirming care, regardless of age, and would have removed these services from the Affordable Care Act’s essential health benefits.22 The restriction on gender-affirming care was removed not because of a shift in policy or pressure from advocacy groups, but due to a procedural roadblock: it violated the Byrd Rule, which prohibits including non-budgetary policy changes in reconciliation bills.23 Future federal bills, if passed, however, could preempt Delaware’s current Medicaid coverage mandates and disrupt private insurance markets, effectively outlawing access to gender-affirming care even where it remains legal.

The interplay between federal hostility, state-level threats, and the tenuous nature of executive protections poses a serious risk. Hospitals may retreat from offering care. Insurers may drop coverage. Providers may hesitate to counsel families. Yet, delaying or denying care compounds mental health disparities and increases the risk of suicide, depression, and long-term harm.

Letters 22

NOVEMBER 21, 2025

BY STEPHEN RASKAUSKAS

LEGISLATIVE IMPACT ON DELAWAREANS: PATIENTS, PROVIDERS, AND PUBLIC HEALTH INSTITUTIONS

Legislative efforts to restrict GAC for youth place Delaware’s most vulnerable populations at risk, and affect more than just patients. They jeopardize healthcare providers, institutions, and the state’s public health infrastructure.

The Trevor Project’s 2024 U.S. National Survey on the Mental Health of LGBTQ+ Young People reported alarming trends in Delaware: 69% of transgender and nonbinary youth in the state experienced symptoms of anxiety, 64% experienced symptoms of depression, and 45% seriously considered suicide in the previous year.24 Furthermore, 42% of transgender and nonbinary young people reported that they or their family have considered leaving Delaware for another state because of LGBTQ+-related politics and laws.25

A growing body of research confirms that access to gender-affirming care improves mental health outcomes among transgender youth. Benefits include lower rates of depression and anxiety, reduced suicidality, and improved self-esteem.

The rollback of support services further compounds these risks. In June 2025, the federal administration discontinued the LGBTQ+-specific “Press 3” option on the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline, eliminating a crucial pathway for affirming crisis intervention.26 The rationale offered, that all callers should be treated equally, fails to account for the heightened and distinct mental health risks LGBTQ+ youth face, particularly in stigmatizing environments or when access to affirming care is blocked.

Healthcare providers and institutions face growing uncertainty. Facilities reliant on federal funds (e.g., Medicare, Medic-

aid, NIH grants) may face sanctions for continuing to provide GAC. Providers operating across state lines must navigate conflicting mandates, risking licensure and legal consequences.

Providers working across state lines are particularly vulnerable to conflicting mandates. In states like Delaware, they may be required or permitted to offer gender-affirming care, while neighboring states could penalize or prohibit the same services. Healthcare systems must therefore implement proactive compliance strategies: tracking law changes, ensuring internal legal review, and maintaining communication with staff and patients about shifting regulatory obligations.

Denying medically indicated gender-affirming care may constitute a form of medical neglect under accepted clinical standards. The legal and ethical landscape places providers in a difficult position: balancing the standard of care against external political and regulatory threats. Inaction, however, has measurable and detrimental consequences.

When trans youth are denied care, emergency rooms and school systems often bear the burden. Increased rates of crisis mental health visits, absenteeism, and school dropout may increase with barriers to care. These consequences propagate into adulthood, contributing to elevated rates of homelessness, unemployment, and substance use.

From an economic standpoint, the cost of untreated gender dysphoria, including hospitalizations, suicide attempts, and chronic mental illness, far outweighs the costs associated with providing affirming care.

According to Executive Order 11 protecting GAC in Delaware, “Delaware is home to approximately 40,000 LGBTQ+ individuals aged 13 and older, representing about 4.5 percent of the state’s population… an estimated 6,300 adults in Delaware identify as transgender, comprising approximately 0.82 percent of the adult population.”

How many young transgender Delawareans might be affected by legislative changes which prevent access to GAC? According to the U.S. Census Bureau the Delaware population as of July 1, 2024 was 1,051,917, with 20.5% of the

health+wellness

BY STEPHEN RASKAUSKAS

Delawareans under age 18, or 215,651 individuals.27 Statistics on children, youth and families in Delaware from the Annie E. Casey Foundation and KIDS COUNT in Delaware estimate that 3% of youth within the state identify as transgender as of 2023, or approximately 6,470 individuals.

Recent legislative protections such as Executive Order 11 from the office of the Delaware Governor are important to safeguard the health and safety of transgender Delawareans, as well as care providers and institutions. However, to fully safeguard its citizens, and particularly youth, Delaware lawmakers must expand protections. Delawareans must maintain and expand mental health services to ensure sustained funding for LGBTQ+ crisis hotlines, school-based mental health counselors, and community partnerships.

Institutions must counter misinformation on the safety and efficacy of gender-affirming care, and enact policies to create and support inclusive school environments that include staff training and peer support programs to affirm trans students.

The data are unambiguous: gender-affirming care is life-saving and medically necessary. Legislative attempts to block access to such care jeopardize not only individual well-being but the stability of Delaware’s public health infrastructure. At a time of growing national hostility, Delaware has both the opportunity and the responsibility to protect its youth, its care providers, and its institutions. ▼ ENDNOTES 1 Department of Health and Human Services. Treatment for Pediatric Gender Dysphoria: Review of Evidence and Best Practices. May 1, 2025. https://opa.hhs.gov/ sites/default/files/2025-05/gender-dysphoria-report.pdf.

Accessed June 20, 2025.

2 American Academy of Pediatrics. (2018). Ensuring Comprehensive Care and Support for Transgender and Gender-Diverse Children and Adolescents. Pediatrics, 142(4), e20182162.

3 Hembree WC, Cohen-Kettenis PT, Gooren L, et al.

Endocrine treatment of gender-dysphoric/gender-incongruent persons: an Endocrine Society clinical practice guideline. J Clin Endocrinol Metab. 2017;102(11):38693903. doi:10.1210/jc.2017-01658 4 American Medical Association. Clarification of Evidence-Based Gender-Affirming Care. H-185.927.

Adopted 2023. Accessed June 29, 2025. https://policysearch.ama-assn.org/policyfinder/detail/%22Clarification%20of%20Evidence-Based%20Gender-Affirming%20 Care%22?uri=%2FAMADoc%2FHOD-185.927.xml

5 Coleman E, Radix AE, Bouman WP, et al. Standards of Care for the Health of Transgender and Gender Diverse People, Version 8. Int J Transgender Health.

2022;23(S1):S1-S258. doi:10.1080/26895269.2022.21006 44.

6

American Academy of Pediatrics. (2018).

7 Coleman E, Radix AE, Bouman WP, et al. Standards of Care for the Health of Transgender and Gender Diverse People, Version 8. Int J Transgender Health.

2022;23(S1):S1-S258. doi:10.1080/26895269.2022.21006 44.

8 Lee JY, Rosenthal SM. Genderaffirming care of transgender and genderdiverse youth: current concepts. Annu Rev Med. 2023;74:107–116. doi:10.1146/ annurevmed043021032007. Published January 27, 2023.

9 Hembree WC, Cohen-Kettenis PT, Gooren L, et al.

Endocrine treatment of gender-dysphoric/gender-incongruent persons: an Endocrine Society clinical practice guideline. J Clin Endocrinol Metab. 2017;102(11):3869– 3903. doi:10.1210/jc.2017-01658 10 Hembree WC, Cohen-Kettenis PT, Gooren L, et al.

Endocrine treatment of gender-dysphoric/gender-incongruent persons: an Endocrine Society clinical practice guideline. J Clin Endocrinol Metab. 2017;102(11):3869– 3903. doi:10.1210/jc.2017-01658 11

Coleman E, Radix AE, Bouman WP, et al.

12

Coleman E, Radix AE, Bouman WP, et al.

13 Rafferty J; COMMITTEE ON PSYCHOSOCIAL ASPECTS OF CHILD AND FAMILY HEALTH; COMMITTEE ON ADOLESCENCE; SECTION ON LESBIAN, GAY, BISEXUAL, AND TRANSGENDER HEALTH AND WELLNESS; Yogman M, Baum R, Gambon TB, et al. Ensuring Comprehensive Care and Support for Transgender and Gender-Diverse Children and Adolescents. Pediatrics.

2018;142(4):e20182162. doi:10.1542/peds.2018-2162 14 Tordoff DM, Van Dyk K, Wanta JW, et al. Mental Health Outcomes in Transgender and Nonbinary Youths Receiving Gender-Affirming Care. JAMA Netw Open. 2022;5(2):e220978. doi:10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2022.0978 15

Del. Code Ann. tit. 6, § 910 (2013).

16

Del. SB 65, 2018

17 Delaware Department of Insurance. Bulletin No. 86 (Reissued 2020)—Continued Prohibition on Blanket Exclusions & Requirement for Equivalent Coverage and Equal Premiums for Gender-Affirming Care. Dover, DE: Delaware Department of Insurance; 2020.

18 Del. SB 55: Save Adolescents From Experimentation (SAFE) Act. 153rd General Assembly. Introduced February 20, 2025. Accessed June 20, 2025. https://legiscan.com/ DE/bill/SB55/2025 19 Del. SB 315: An Act to Amend Title 16 of the Delaware Code Relating to Gender Transition Procedures.

152nd General Assembly. Introduced June 6, 2024.

Accessed June 20, 2025. https://legis.delaware.gov/ BillDetail?LegislationId=14148 20 Meyer M. Executive Order No. 11—Protecting Gender-Affirming Care in Delaware. State of Delaware, Office of the Governor; June 20, 2025. Accessed June 20, 2025. https://governor.delaware.gov/executive-orders/executive-order-11/ 21 Trump D. Executive Order No. 14187: Protecting Children from Chemical and Surgical Mutilation: Federal Policy on Gender-Affirming Care for Minors. The White House; January 28, 2025. Accessed June 20, 2025.

Federal Register.

22 Arrington JC. One Big Beautiful Bill Act (H.R. 1). 119th Congress (2025–2026). Enacted July 4, 2025. Congress. gov. Accessed July 16, 2025.

23 Wyden R. Wyden Statement on Parliamentarian Reconciliation Decisions. Senate Finance Committee.

Published June 26, 2025. Accessed July 16, 2025.

24 The Trevor Project. 2024 Survey on the Mental Health of LGBTQ+ Young People in Delaware. West Hollywood, CA: The Trevor Project; February 2025.

Accessed June 20, 2025. https://www.thetrevorproject.org/ wp-content/uploads/2025/02/2024-50-State-Report-Delaware.pdf 25

The Trevor Project. 2024 Survey

26 Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. SAMHSA Statement on 988 Press 3 Option. Rockville, MD: SAMHSA; June 17, 2025. Accessed June 20, 2025. https://www.samhsa.gov/about/ news-announcements/statements/2025/samhsa-statement-988-press-3-option 27 U.S. Census Bureau. QuickFacts: Delaware; Population estimates, July 1, 2023. Washington, DC: U.S. Census Bureau; 2023. Accessed June 20, 2025. https://www. census.gov/quickfacts/fact/table/DE/PST045

LET’S STAY CONNECTED! All of CAMP Rehoboth’s programs, services, and events are listed here: camprehoboth.org/ events-calendar/.

Please visit the site often to ensure you have up-to-date information on what is being offered—and when. ▼

Youth Crisis Support: Crisis intervention services for children under 18. Parents and caregivers are connected to a crisis clinician.

Available 24/7. Call 800-969-4357 or text DE to 741-741.

988: Free, confidential support and resources for anyone in distress.

Available 24/7. Call 988.

Delaware Hope Line: Free coaching and support. Links to mental health, addiction, and crisis services.

Available 24/7. Call 833-9-HOPEDE (833-946-7333).

NOVEMBER 21, 2025

23 Letters

CAMPsafe Serves Our Community

BY VINCENT DELISSIO

World AIDS Day Service A Walk of Remembrance and Hope

C

AMPsafe continues to stay on the move— from AIDS Walk to the Sea Witch® Parade, we just can’t sit still. And before you know it, it will be December—National HIV/AIDS Awareness Month—which is why we have one more walk in store!

Join CAMP Rehoboth for our annual World AIDS Day Service on Sunday, November 30, at 6:00 p.m., at All Saints’ Episcopal Church in Rehoboth Beach. The evening begins with a candlelight walk from CAMP Rehoboth to the church—an act of remembrance honoring those we have lost and a symbol of hope for a brighter future.

Like last year, a panel from the historic AIDS Memorial Quilt will be on display, offering a powerful visual reminder of the countless lives touched by HIV and AIDS. As we come together for this evening of thoughtful reflection, we reaffirm our commitment to compassion, awareness, and the ongoing fight against HIV stigma. All are welcome to participate in this moving tradition of remembrance and unity. ▼ Vincent DeLissio is Membership and Program Coordinator at CAMP Rehoboth.

TESTING & COUNSELING Free, rapid, walk-in syphilis and HIV testing and counseling is available in the CAMP Rehoboth Health Suite.

CAMP Rehoboth

37 Baltimore Ave., Rehoboth Beach, DE Tel: 302-227-5620 Mondays..................................................... 10:00 AM-1:00 PM Tuesdays......................................................9:00 AM-4:30 PM Wednesdays...............................................9:00 AM-4:30 PM Thursdays....................................................9:00 AM-4:30 PM Fridays ......................................................9:00 AM -12:00 PM

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GET TESTED with Joe Vescio, HIV testing volunteer, on Wednesdays, 1-4 p.m. at CAMP Rehoboth

Letters 24

NOVEMBER 21, 2025

Metropolitan Community Church of Rehoboth 19369 Plantation Rd Rehoboth Beach, DE

A Christian church for ALL people

Worship Service 10:00 AM Sunday mornings

www.mccrehoboth.org https://www.youtube.com/@mccrehoboth NOVEMBER 21, 2025

25 Letters

The Path from Tolerance to Respect

BY NANCY SAKADUSKI

The Gaying of the Rehoboth Beach Board of Commissioners

M

ark Aguirre grew up with the memory of John F. Kennedy’s 1961 inaugural address and the president’s call to “ask not what your country can do for you—ask what you can do for your country.” So, rather than give in to his dismay over the 2000 election (Al Gore was declared a few chads short), he decided to run for a seat on the Rehoboth Beach Board of Commissioners, becoming the board’s first openly gay commissioner (and one of the first openly gay elected officials in Delaware).

It had been 10 years since the peak of the “Keep Rehoboth Family Friendly” bumper-sticker blight, and the growing LGBTQ+ population was, for the most part, being tolerated. Nevertheless, a bill (HB 99) that would have prohibited discrimination based on sexual orientation had just failed to make it through the Delaware General Assembly.

As one of his first acts as commissioner, Aguirre asked that the Rehoboth Beach Board of Commissioners send a message to the state in support of HB 99. He also wrote the draft for a policy that would prohibit discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation within the city of Rehoboth. Initially, only two of the other commissioners agreed to support it, but after some rewriting as a group, the policy passed unanimously. “There was just a spontaneous cheer that erupted,” recalls Aguirre. “It was quite remarkable.”

Knowing this wouldn’t be the end of the story, he challenged his fellow commissioners at that time, saying “We must not grow complacent now.”

In a recent article for the Current, James T. Sears looked back on those days in the early 1990s when the city government was not so accommodating.

“Permits were delayed. Codes nitpicked.

Ordinances challenged,” he wrote.

“Eventually, The Strand was drowned by Letters 26

NOVEMBER 21, 2025

a thousand bureaucratic cuts.” But then came the backlash. Sears quoted attorney Gene Lawson as saying, “It brought the business community together, the gay community together, and woke up City Hall.”

As the LGBTQ+ population grew, so did support for issues meaningful to those constituents. Former Rehoboth Beach Commissioner Richard Byrne recalls that in 2018, Fay Jacobs approached him to discuss a way to honor CAMP Rehoboth co-founder Steve Elkins, who had recently died. The result was the naming of Steve Elkins Way. Although there had never been a memorial of that kind in Rehoboth, the proposal had no opposition. Byrne (who is not gay) says that Rehoboth has evolved.

“It’s not just tolerance,” he says, “it’s genuine respect and genuine friendliness.”

With the 2025 election of Susan Stewart and Chris Galanty to the Rehoboth Beach Board of Commissioners, the board currently has a majority of LGBTQ+-identified commissioners.

Although this has happened before, it’s a sign that significant LGBTQ+ representation on the board has become a given.

Susan Stewart says she doesn’t know if her being lesbian was pertinent to voters. “Certainly I think that the LGBTQ+ community was very supportive of Chris Galanty, who won, and I won, and I think…the fact that our board is a majority LGBTQ is a reflection that the city has maybe come that long way from those days of ‘Keep Rehoboth Family Friendly’ to today, where the community is such a dominant force in the city.”

Galanty agrees. “It’s certainly noteworthy. I think it’s reflective of the broader community. The community has a very strong LGBTQIA presence and population and I think that [the fact that] we are a majority is a recognition of where this community has come…. I don’t think it was fathomable thirty years ago, frankly.”

Patrick Gossett was elected in 2004

and after five terms now serves as vice president of the Board. He says being gay didn’t play a part in his decision to run for office, but “I think it sends the message to the community that we are all there to serve the community…the, if

“… Rehoboth has evolved.

It’s not just tolerance, it’s genuine respect and genuine friendliness.” you will, ‘gay vote’ is not really existent in the sense that everyone is really just concerned about the quality of life in the city of Rehoboth and I think the individuals that are on the board—whether straight or gay—that’s the focus of their commitment and to keeping the character of Rehoboth Beach a part of it.”

As concern over the national political environment has grown, so has the fear that the progress made in Rehoboth Beach could be threatened. “The national political situation has the potential to affect what we’re doing in Rehoboth,” says Galanty. He is particularly concerned about future lack of support and funding. “That we’re going to have to work our way through.”

Gossett…thinks that Rehoboth could serve as an example of how things can be done and how other communities could be successful in bringing people together.

There’s little doubt that we live in a bit of a bubble, but bubbles can burst, and of course the homophobia never went away completely. Rehoboth was the scene of a hate crime as recently as last year.

“There is still the issue of discrimination,” Gossett says, but he thinks that Rehoboth could serve as an example of how things can be done and how other communities could be successful in bringing people together. “The definition of Rehoboth Beach is ‘room for all,’ and I think that subtext really carries through.”

He says that things have improved significantly since the bumper-sticker

days and credits CAMP Rehoboth and other organizations for the prevalence of LGBTQ+ businesses, residents, and visitors, and the city’s number of elected and appointed officials and staff who identify as LGBTQ+.

Mark Aguirre thinks back to the days when openly gay candidates could not win seats on the board of commissioners, despite the fact, as he points out, “gays and lesbians are on both sides of any and every issue that comes up in Rehoboth politics.” Back then, he says he couldn’t have imagined that one day the Rehoboth Beach Board of Commissioners would have a majority

of LGBTQ+-identified commissioners. “I don’t think I ever even thought that could happen…. It’s quite an achievement.” ▼ Nancy Sakaduski is an award-winning writer and editor who owns Cat & Mouse Press in Lewes, Delaware.

REFERENCES “From Shadows to Celebration: The Queer History of Rehoboth Beach,” James T. Sears. The Current, June 5, 2025. thecapecurrent.com/cover-stories/from-shadowsto-celebration-the-queer-history-of-rehoboth-beach/ Letters from CAMP Rehoboth, May 2, 2003. camprehoboth.org/past-letter/may-2-2003-issue-index/may-302003-in-brief/

Love where you live.

Live where you love!

Chris Beagle chrisbeaglegroup.com @chrisbeaglegroup M 215.262.6209 | O 302.273.4998

The Chris Beagle Group is a team of real estate licensees affiliated with Compass RE. Compass RE is a licensed real estate broker and abides by Equal Housing Opportunity laws. 131 2nd Street, Lewes DE 19958

NOVEMBER 21, 2025

27 Letters

Are TOD Deeds better than my trust?

No. Consider the following:

Geographic limitations: This Act only addresses DE real estate.

Your Trust can avoid probate on in-state and out-of-state property.

Limited Asset Coverage: TOD Deeds avoid probate on real estate, not other assets like cash accounts, investments, and belongings.

Reduced Flexibility: TOD Deeds don’t allow for customizations to address the need to sell real estate and distribute cash, or contingency designations to address deceased or risky beneficiaries.

Forced Co-Ownership: When multiple beneficiaries inherit real estate as joint owners, their opposing views and circumstances can be a recipe for conflict.

Exposure to Long-Term Care Costs: TOD Deeds do nothing to protect real estate from the potential costs of long-term care.

PROCINO-WELLS & WOODLAND, LLC

Planning today to protect your family’s tomorrow

302-628- 41 4 0 www.pw wlaw.c om Estate Planning Elder Law Estate & Trust Administration

Letters 28

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NOVEMBER 21, 2025

29 Letters

Community News

New Exhibit at RB Museum

T

he exhibition Metal & Memory: An Artistic Dialogue with History has opened at the Rehoboth Beach Museum.

The exhibit features the work of jewelry artist Heidi Lowe, and showcases her distinctive approach to preserving community memory through wearable art.

Lowe, who grew up in Rehoboth Beach and now owns and operates Heidi Lowe Gallery in Lewes, brings both personal connection and professional expertise to this project. With degrees in Metals and Jewelry from Maine College of Art and the State University of New

Holiday Peace

Another Costume Opportunity!

L

ooking for some respite, as the holiday season ramps up? Sit back, relax, and enjoy the sounds of the season at Rehoboth Concert Band’s annual winter performance, “Holiday Peace.” This multicultural concert will be presented at the Cape Henlopen High School Theatre (1250 Kings Highway, Lewes), on Sunday, December 21, at 3:00 p.m.

Rehoboth Concert Band is a community ensemble composed of instrumentalists of varying ages and levels of playing ability. Adults and talented youth from surrounding communities come together to rehearse and perform a wide range of concert band literature for audiences throughout southern Delaware and beyond.

For more information about the concert or the Band, visit rehobothconcertband.org, or email rehobothconcertband@gmail.com. ▼

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NOVEMBER 21, 2025

L

York, New Paltz, she has spent her career exploring how jewelry can tell stories and preserve memory. Her work reflects the landscape and people of our oceanside community.

Lowe’s work creates a conversation between history and craft, responding to objects ranging from a Nanticoke eel basket and colonial-era buttons to a CAMP Rehoboth groundbreaking shovel and a Funland game pin. Each piece of jewelry serves as both adornment and commemoration, translating cultural memory into wrought metal.

“This exhibition shows our approach to making history relevant and engaging.

When visitors see Heidi Lowe’s artistic response alongside the original artifact, they’re invited into a conversation between past and present. That dialogue helps us think differently about both the historical object and its contemporary interpretation—and ultimately, about how we preserve and honor the stories that matter to our community,” says Heidi Nasstrom Evans, Executive Director. ▼

ooking for another dress-up excuse, now that Halloween in is the rear view? You’re in luck: Rehoboth Beach’s Fourth Annual Santa Bar Crawl kicks off on Saturday, December 6! Dig out your Santa or Mrs. Claus finery and join the fun. Even better, it’s all for two good causes.

This year’s Crawl is the biggest one yet, with (so far) 20+ participating locations and an expectation of 2,000+ Clauses. The event begins at 1:00 p.m. with a group photo at the Boardwalk and Wilmington Avenue and wraps up around 7:30 p.m. at the last stop/closing party location.

The Santa Bar Crawl benefits Toys for Tots and the Stephen Stiller Tunnel To Towers Foundation. Your entry fee/ticket is in the form of your generosity: Simply bring at least one new (unwrapped) toy for your donation to Toys for Tots AND make a nominal donation of at least $5 to the Stephen Siller Tunnel To Towers Foundation.

Toys will be accepted at the time of the group photo; there will be USMC volunteers and a box truck on site. For those who do not make it to the group picture, all participating restaurants/bars will have official Marine Toys for Tots drop boxes for your convenience. The goal is to collect 3,500 toys for the children of Sussex County, Delaware.

To make a donation to the Tunnels To Towers Foundation or browse additional details, FAQs, pictures, drink specials, or merchandise store, visit the official event website: rbsantabarcrawl.com. ▼

You’re Invited to our

Warm Winter Social!

Dec. 11, 4-6PM, at CAMP Rehoboth

Enjoy warm refreshments with friends, and bring an optional item for the toy & clothing drive!

37 Baltimore Avenue, Rehoboth Beach, DE 19971 302.227.5620 | camprehoboth.org NOVEMBER 21, 2025

31 Letters

Out & About

BY ERIC C. PETERSON

Representation is Sexy

T

he first week in November was a big one. Dick Cheney died. Nancy Pelosi announced her retirement.

The mid-term elections were a veritable blue tsunami. There was so much going on, it was easy to miss a story that seemed trivial and inconsequential by comparison. Jonathan Bailey, an openly gay British actor, was named People magazine’s Sexiest Man Alive.

People has been doling out this “honor” for 40 years (although Bailey isn’t the 40th man to be so named; there have been a few repeats), and this isn’t the first time the selection has been newsworthy. In 1993, People tried out Sexiest Couple, bestowing the new honorific to Richard Gere and Cindy Crawford (making Crawford the only woman on the official list), and in 1996, Denzel Washington was the first African American man to be dubbed the “Sexiest.” There have been a few other firsts: David Beckham was the first athlete in 2015, and Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson was the first Asian to be given the title in 2016. And, given that this has been going on for a few years, not all of the decisions have aged well (mostly looking at you, inaugural cover boy Mel Gibson). But Bailey’s designation seems special, somehow.

Of course, gay heartthrobs are nothing new. Rock Hudson, Tab Hunter, and Montgomery Clift prompted much swooning and sighing from women and gay men alike during Hollywood’s Golden Age, and while they led fairly uninhibited lives, the studio system and the culture of silence around sexuality of the 1950s allowed them to be essentially closeted to the majority of their fans.

In the 80s and 90s, stars like George Michael and Ricky Martin stimulated more than a few lustful thoughts from fans, but they waited awhile before coming out (in 1998 and 2010, respectively), after already cementing their status as sex symbols.

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NOVEMBER 21, 2025

Jonathan Bailey, by comparison, has been out to the world for as long as he’s been world-famous. He came out publicly in 2018, two years before becoming a household name with a starring role in Netflix’s historical romance series, Bridgerton. So, even when Anthony Bridgerton made hearts race by crawling out of the river in that wet, clingy, see-through white linen shirt, he was a gay man to anyone who cared to know.

It definitely means that a generation of gay kids…are watching someone like them being celebrated by men and women alike...

He didn’t avoid gay roles, either; most notably, he starred opposite Matt Bomer in Showtime’s Fellow Travelers, a moving drama about homophobia and AIDS (but also really steamy in parts). But he’s also played straight, a lot. In addition to Bridgerton (in which he romanced Simone Ashley as Kate Sharma), he played Dr. Henry Loomis in Jurassic World: Rebirth (in which he romanced Scarlett Johannson while avoiding being eaten by dinosaurs) and Fiyero in both Wicked films (in which he sang, danced, and stole the hearts of both Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo).

So why does any of this matter? I mean, compared to our slow descent into authoritarianism, families trying to figure out how to put food on the table without their SNAP benefits, a terrible decision by the Supreme Court to allow the prohibition of gender election on American passports, and the possibility (as of this writing) that the high court could entertain overturning the Obergefell decision which allowed samesex couples to marry…it doesn’t feel very significant.

And yet, I do think it carries some meaning. It doesn’t mean gay men are finally sexy; we’ve been sexy (looking at you, Rock, Tab, Monty, George, Ricky, and countless others). And it doesn’t mean that we require the validation of a mainstream pop culture periodical like People magazine in order to feel sexy; we’ve been managing our feelings on that subject just fine for a long time. I mean, just take a look at how a straight man typically dresses as a fireman on Halloween (helmet, shirt, jacket, pants, suspenders, boots, maybe a little soot under the eye for effect) next to a gay man (helmet, harness, Speedo®, done).

All it really means is that the straight world (People magazine is nothing if not relentlessly heterosexual) is finally waking up to what’s always been true.

We exist, and not just as the rom-com heroine’s neutered sassy sidekick. We are whole human beings, sexiness included.

Perhaps it could also predict a future where more straight romantic leads are being played by gay actors and (simultaneously) more stories that put gay folks at the center. It definitely means that a generation of gay kids, many of whom spend way too much time trying to hide who they are to themselves and others, are watching someone like them being celebrated by men and women alike as the Sexiest Man Alive, full of fun and swagger and unmistakable allure.

However small, it’s a step in the right direction. And I thought it deserved just a moment of our time and attention.▼ Eric Peterson is a Diversity, Equity & Inclusion (DEI) practitioner, pop culture junkie, and sometime novelist. His debut novel (Loyalty, Love & Vermouth) is available at Broweseabout Books and online.

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33 Letters

The End Is the Beginning

BY CHRISTOPHER MOORE

Lead, Follow, or….

As I reach the end of my time at AIDS Delaware, I’m pausing to look back at how leadership has shaped me, and how it’s informing my next chapter.

I

t was the first thing on my list in my early days as Interim Executive Director of AIDS Delaware.

I wanted to introduce myself to another leader who had recently taken the helm of a community-based agency I’d admired since I was a teenager. I fussed over the email—reading every line twice to strike the right balance of warmth and respect. Hitting “send” filled me with joy, the kind that comes when you feel you’re stepping into something larger than yourself. Finally, I thought, I’ll have someone to connect with—leader to leader, person to person.

When this individual never responded, I was perplexed. Surely something had gone wrong. So, I sent it again, this time with a polite note at the top: Wanted to make sure this reached you. When they didn’t respond a second time, I was crestfallen.

That’s when my old companions came calling—the inner saboteurs who had haunted most of my professional life.

They whispered the same lies as always: You’re not a real leader. You don’t belong here. You’re playing dress-up again.

For years, those voices had been everything from backup singers to co-pilots. In my twenties, they magnified every insecurity. Working for ChristianaCare right out of university, I said yes to everything to seem capable, terrified someone would find out I wasn’t. Even as I moved from coordinator to manager to department director, I still felt like an impostor waiting to be found out. I learned to perform confidence instead of feeling it, to measure worth by output instead of presence.

A decade in, I was leading a sprawling community program and a large team. On paper, I’d “arrived.” In reality, I was adrift—treading water in a culture that confused hierarchy with competence. Everyone was sprinting toward a

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… empathy, when paired with accountability, is transformative. finish line no one could see. Meetings felt like competition disguised as collaboration, and success meant saying the right jargon at the right time. I grew tired of the theater—the “quick questions,” the “downloads,” the endless talk of synergy and alignment. I didn’t want performance; I wanted truth.

Over time, my edges hardened. I became bullish, impatient, addicted to fixing things no one wanted fixed. When I couldn’t, I turned the frustration inward, replaying every conversation like game tape. The result was burnout dressed up as achievement.

What saved me—or at least started to—was a small group of colleagues who refused to let me drown in my own perfectionism. They were kind but direct.

They didn’t coddle; they coached. They asked: Why are you waiting for permission to lead your own way? Why do you think leadership has to feel comfortable?

Their voices began to drown out the noise. Slowly, I realized the problem

wasn’t that I didn’t belong—it was that I was trying to belong in the wrong way.

I started speaking with more honesty and less armor. I stopped apologizing for taking up space. I began to understand that leadership wasn’t about being the smartest person in the room; it was about being the most curious. That shift cracked something open in me.

I began to write again—essays, reflections, poetry. Writing helped me process the chaos, to name things without needing to fix them. Around the same time, I started teaching English at Delaware Technical Community College.

Standing in front of students—some just out of high school, others reinventing themselves midlife—reminded me why I’d fallen in love with language in the first place. Their openness gave me permission to loosen my grip on control. Teaching felt less like performing and more like connecting.

Meanwhile, work grew harder. The hospital world became more political, the

I began to understand that leadership wasn’t about being the smartest person in the room; it was about being the most curious.

stakes higher, the culture sharper-edged.

But those same years gave me clarity. I learned what kind of leader I didn’t want to be—performative, reactive, constantly on edge. I learned that ambition without empathy curdles into arrogance. I learned that fitting in often costs more than it’s worth. And though I didn’t master these lessons before leaving ChristianaCare, I understand now I wasn’t meant to. That chapter existed to teach me how to leave.

After 17 years in what felt like a pressure cooker, the universe handed me a release valve: the chance to serve as Interim Executive Director of AIDS Delaware, the state’s oldest and largest HIV service organization. I knew before I accepted that my days as a traditional “leader” might be numbered. But I also knew I’d only seen leadership through one lens—and it was time to see if it looked different somewhere else.

So I jumped in. After years in a system where compassion was seen as weakness, I found myself in a place where empathy was the work. Here, relationships mattered as much as outcomes. People didn’t just talk about meeting clients where they were—they actually did.

With a smaller team and far broader responsibilities, I learned new skills fast: managing finances, negotiating contracts, carrying the weight of decisions that shaped the agency’s future. It was thrilling and terrifying. And yet, old habits returned. The saboteurs were back,

…leadership, at its best, isn’t an act of survival—it’s an act of service. whispering: You’re not ready. You’re not respected. You’re still pretending.

Then, something shifted. I can’t pinpoint when, but I suspect it had as much to do with life outside of work as within it—falling in love, losing people I cared about, finding a better therapist, getting

older, and ending my decades-long relationship with marijuana. Sobriety, especially, has a way of turning up the lights.

When you stop numbing the noise, you start hearing yourself again.

That clarity made room for calm. I accepted that this job had an expiration date, which freed me from the illusion of permanence. I stopped trying to prove myself and started being myself. I gave myself permission to lead with curiosity instead of control. I could try new ideas, admit what I didn’t know, and say no to what didn’t serve the mission. More than anything, I learned that leadership is a season, not an identity. It’s borrowed time—and if you’re lucky, you get to decide when it’s time to hand the baton to someone else.

Two years later, my perspective has softened. I’ve weathered a few storms as a nonprofit leader. I’ve outgrown the hunger to be everyone’s favorite. I’ve stopped confusing busyness with impact.

I’ve also stopped paying the quiet tax of leadership—the one where you absorb everyone else’s stress while pretending you’re fine.

Don’t get me wrong, I still struggle.

There’s no storm quite like the one that brews in your own mind. But now I know that leadership isn’t about pretending you don’t have storms—it’s about learning to stand in the rain without losing your footing.

For the first time since college, the path ahead feels uncertain. And surprisingly, that feels like freedom. I know I’ll keep writing and teaching. Leadership will still show up there—just in quieter, more intentional ways. I’ve also taken a leap into something completely new: an eight-month yoga teacher training at West Chester University. It’s the kind of thing I once would have dismissed as self-indulgent. Now it feels like alignment—literally and metaphorically. I’m also taking on freelance projects, exploring what it means to create without needing to control the outcome.

What I want now is simpler: to do meaningful work without letting it define

me. To write, to teach, to connect—but not to manage, fix, or perform. To spend less time decoding everyone else’s needs and more time understanding my own.

AIDS Delaware gave me a rare and precious gift: the chance to heal my relationship with leadership. It reminded me that empathy, when paired with accountability, is transformative. It showed me that you can be both firm and kind, decisive and humble, strategic and human. It reminded me that leadership, at its best, isn’t an act of survival—it’s an act of service. And maybe most of all, it taught me that there’s no one right way to do this work. You just keep learning, adjusting, and trying again.

Which brings me all the way back to that unanswered email.

For a long time, I kept it in my “Sent” folder like a souvenir of rejection—proof that I had made the effort and been ignored. But now I see it differently. I don’t know what that leader was going through, and I don’t need to. Maybe they were overwhelmed. Maybe the timing was wrong. Maybe the universe was protecting us both, ensuring our paths didn’t cross until we had more to learn.

What I know is this: their silence gave me space to listen to myself. It forced me to stop searching for validation in someone else’s inbox and start trusting my own voice. That unanswered email became a quiet invitation—to grow, to lead, and to let go.

And that has been the greatest gift of all. ▼ Christopher Moore is a writer, a teacher, and a lover of NPR, yoga, abandoned shopping malls, reproductive freedoms, and a man who lives in Toronto. His email is moore.cc@gmail.com.

NOVEMBER 21, 2025

35 Letters

It’s My Life

BY MICHAEL THOMAS FORD

Poll Positions

S

ORRY IF MY PATRIOTISM OFFENDS YOU. TRUST ME, YOUR LACK OF SPINE OFFENDS ME MORE. The man standing in front of me has these words emblazoned on his t-shirt, along with an image of an assault rifle. He’s also wearing a hat with a patch declaring him a military veteran.

Because I have just scanned his ID, I know that he’s 57, the same age I am.

We look enough alike that we could be brothers.

I’m on hour nine of working at a polling location on Election Day. I will be there for another six hours, followed by more time spent driving the election materials I’m responsible for to the local Board of Elections office. It’s a long day, but I love it, and I generally get to do it twice a year, for the primary in May and then the general election in November.

Most of the other poll workers with me are also repeat participants, some of many years.

The voters we help will be there for only a few minutes. In the case of today’s election, it’s an off year, and most precincts have very little on their ballots. The biggest race is for the mayorship of a tiny village. Turnout has been low. I myself am in a new-to-me location, as my name is on the ballot in my usual precinct, where I am running for another term on village council. (Spoiler: I won.)

I love seeing who comes in to vote.

Already, I have checked in both first-time teenage voters and three voters who have or are soon to reach the century mark. Seeing birth years from the 1920s on their IDs is thrilling. I want to ask them what it was like being young people during World War II, what it’s like for them seeing what our country has become over the course of their lives. But I can’t.

I’m supposed to be a neutral point of contact.

This neutrality makes my interaction with the man in the t-shirt interesting. As I hand him back his ID and ask him to sign the electronic check-in screen, I say, “Thank you for your service.” He smiles Letters 36

NOVEMBER 21, 2025

broadly and says, “And thank you for yours here today.”

Even though this is not a presidential election, I’m pretty certain I know how this man voted in the most recent one. And his shirt tells me that he and I probably do not agree on a lot of things.

But what he sees is a man his age, silver-haired and bearded like himself, wearing a red-white-and-blue flannel shirt. Perhaps because of this he assumes we are the same in other ways.

It’s ironic that this peaceful, cooperative undertaking to elect leaders and vote on issues so often leads to conflict and anger.

I see variations of him throughout the day, men in shirts with similar messages.

IF THIS FLAG OFFENDS YOU, I’LL HELP YOU PACK says one. Another says 45-4748. Without fail, these men are jovial and polite, thanking me for checking them in, telling dad jokes, asking if it’s been busy.

When the electronic pollbook instructs me to record one man’s ID number, which sometimes happens for various innocuous reasons, he swears he’s not an illegal. “Don’t call ICE on me!” he says, putting his hands up and laughing.

As happens every election, a number of voters ask us to explain ballot issues to them, or to tell them candidates’ stances on issues, which we can’t do. Some also feel the need to let us know how they’re going to vote, usually in a tone that suggests that of course we feel the same way about the candidate or issue in question. All we can do is smile and send them along to the table where they’ll be handed their ballots, even if in my head I’m explaining to them why the choices I suspect they’re about to make are bad ones.

Almost always, things go smoothly on election days. And every time, I think about how strange it is that a sizable

percentage of the people I’m helping to vote are voting in ways that could negatively impact me, let alone themselves.

Similarly, I wonder what these people would think if they knew that the person helping them does not think as they do. Poll workers are forbidden to wear anything that indicates political leanings or suggests opinions about the issues.

And at every location there are workers from both major political parties, working in tandem to ensure an impartial process.

One of my favorite people to work with is a Trump-loving woman who disagrees with me on pretty much everything but who loves to sit and swap recipes with me all day long.

It’s ironic that this peaceful, cooperative undertaking to elect leaders and vote on issues so often leads to conflict and anger. The same people we help exercise their rights often later accuse those of us who disagree with them of being unpatriotic. They call us spineless, offer to help us pack, suggest that we’re the real problem. Never mind that some of us literally carried their votes in to be counted.

I wonder how the men in the t-shirts would react to me if, instead of handing them voting slips, they met me carrying a No Kings sign. Would they recognize the person who helped them vote, or would they only see an enemy? I fear I know the answer to that, and it makes me sad for the world we live in.

Voting is often about effecting change. We saw that this week. My hope is that we keep changing, becoming a country where we work together instead of turning one another into enemies, where we see patriotism not as blindly supporting one ideology or another, but as giving all of us the chance to become the best versions of ourselves. ▼ Michael Thomas Ford is a much-published Lambda Literary award-winning author. Visit Michael at michaelthomasford.com.

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37 Letters

Medical Foundation

Letters 38

NOVEMBER 21, 2025

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NOVEMBER 21, 2025

39 Letters

Celebrity Interview

BY MICHAEL COOK

Detox Dishes

Honoring Legends, Drag Race, and the One Elusive Mugler Piece

W

hether dripping in Mugler or in a barely-there garment on stage, Detox continues to be one of the most in-demand queens in the industry today. While she has left a return to RuPaul’s Drag Race in the past (for now), Detox continues to travel the globe and tell the stories we all should be hearing.

I sat down for a chat with Detox (our first since All Stars 2) and we dished on life as a drag superstar, why speaking about the legends is so important, and why she is always going to be a “futuristic sex bot woman”!

MICHAEL COOK: Detox, it’s been a

minute and we have not gotten to speak since RuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars 2 press time! Your number based on the classic film Mannequin remains a fan favorite; how many times do you think you may do it during larger events?

DETOX: I probably only do it once, especially during the bigger shows.

MC: You and your sister Heather could most definitely have your own reality show. Since seeing her first appear on RuPaul’s Drag Race during a makeover challenge, we have gotten to watch your relationship evolve and grow.

D: We’re like conjoined twins, we share the same brain. We’re uncomfortably close for some people, but we’re soulmates. I’m so lucky I get to experience so many things with her.

MC: There must be something in that Orlando water because performers like Ginger Minj & Roxxxy Andrews—those are the type of dynamic talents coming out of the Orlando area. What do you think it is about Orlando that puts out just such drag excellence?

D: I think it’s just a melting pot of all kinds of different performers. You have the Disney performers which I kind of equate to Broadway performers, and the New Letters 40

NOVEMBER 21, 2025

York kind of kids because it’s very theatrical and musical theater driven. Then you have your trans goddess performers who are all multinational title holders.

You have your comedy queens, you’ve got your club kids.

When I first started doing drag, I was more of a club kid. That’s how Roxxxy and I are so close, because we started doing drag around the same time in different circles and we’ve just maintained our friendship and throughout the years have gotten even closer with our shared experiences. There are just so many influences there.

It’s our duty, I think, to keep legends’ legacies alive also. To talk about them and reference them and share their stories and let people know about them because we wouldn’t be where we are, if it weren’t for all of the hard work that they’ve done to make it viable for us to have a career like this.

MC: Speaking of legends, it has been said for years there should be a Drag Race season with Sherry Vine, Joey

Arias, Varla Jean Merman, and all of those queens who truly helped lay the groundwork for a generation.

D: It would be brilliant! All the casts have said it, I actually just emailed one of the producers the other day because I went to Jim Flint’s birthday, who owns Miss Continental.

It would be so incredible to bring onto the show, to make over the girls who are the icons of drag who are well known, established queens who have been in the game for so long. We’re losing so many legends and it would be a great opportunity to share their stories, to legitimize the fact that drag is not this new phenomenon—that it’s been happening all over the world for a long time. To shed light on them, give them a spotlight and let them share their stories. I think it would be such a beautiful episode.

MC: It is refreshing though, because so many people work to get onto Drag Race as their end goal in the industry today. You were on an early season, did an All Stars season that is looked at as

…drag is not this new phenomenon—that it’s been happening all over the world for a long time.

It’s our duty, I think, to keep legends’ legacies alive also. To talk about them and reference them and share their stories and let people know about them …

one of the best seasons ever, enjoyed your experiences, and moved on.

D: I enjoyed my experience which obviously has changed my life; I really loved it. There are times where I’m like watching my friends on the show and I’m like, “That does look like fun, I do miss that experience, maybe I would do it again.”

But then, you open yourself up to all of the negativity that’s out there in this community and there’s also a lot of stress. It’s different now, though. I know that they give you a stipend and you get paid more and, you know, it’s even more exposure.

I’m also at a point where I work a lot and I haven’t stopped working. I was working hardcore on the road before I even filmed the show since my group DWV. I’ve been very fortunate and very blessed and I don’t necessarily need it.

MC: I’m going to finish with this because, as you, I am a huge Thierry Mugler fan.

What is one piece that you would absolutely love to add to your collection?

D: The penultimate would be the fembot suit. That is what made me fall in love with him in the early 90s. That has been a constant thread in my aesthetic, my adoration of him, my love of aliens, and

futuristic space-sex-bot women! That would be the dream. ▼

W I N E

S P I R I T S

•

•

Follow Detox on Instagram: instagram.com/theonlydetox/?hl=en

Michael Cook has been a part-time resident of Rehoboth Beach for over a decade. He is currently a contributor to WERRRK.com., OUTSFL, and The Philadelphia Gay News.

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CAMP Stories

BY RICH BARNETT

The Grain of Truth

I

recently paid a visit to the Biggs Museum of American Art in Dover to see an exhibit by New Orleans artist Keith Duncan celebrating the history and pageantry of HBCU marching bands. It was both visual and energetic.

Afterwards, I wandered through the decorative arts galleries, which offered a different kind of pageantry altogether.

Here, portraits, landscapes, silver pieces, and brown furniture from the Delaware and Mid-Atlantic region share the same soft light of history. The tall clocks and highboy chests, glowing with centuries of polish, anchor these rooms with a weight and warmth that feels permanent. Like the marching band traditions, these pieces were made to endure, to carry forward something worth keeping.

Maybe that’s why brown furniture feels comforting to me. It’s the weight, the warmth, and the whisper in my ear that says, I was here before you, and I’ll be here after.

For those unfamiliar with the term, “brown furniture” describes traditional, well-made pieces, often antique but not always. Dining room tables, desks, beds, chests, and side tables are typical examples. The furniture has a formal style, characterized by stains, polished finishes, curved legs, and ornate details like sculpted bases and raised panels. It is usually dark or reddish-brown in color and made from hardwoods like walnut, mahogany, or cherry. Personally, I’m not a strict constructionist when it comes to the color or type of wood. I’ll include pine, oak, bamboo, and even maple so long as it’s not too rustic.

The Biggs’ collection has a quiet confidence. Nothing feels flimsy or fake.

Just skill, patience, and materials meant to last—qualities we seem to be racing away from in how we buy, create, and live.

There’s a message in brown furniture: What’s real, doesn’t have to shout or beg for attention.

I clearly have a soft spot for brown furniture. As a Southerner, I was raised with it. However, I honed my taste over

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NOVEMBER 21, 2025

30+ years living in Washington, DC, a city that appreciates history and antiques. My home today here in Rehoboth is filled with rich wood and saturated colors. And lots of brown furniture purchased over the

… people are beginning to reevaluate what lasts—furniture, values, and ideas that favor substance over surface, decency over impropriety, continuity over churn. years. I’m also very fortunate to have my great-grandfather’s bookcases, tall clock, and the writing desk he took with him to Denison University in 1888. Milo Price, my great-grandfather, was a principled, progressive Republican. You don’t see his kind much anymore. I like to think I inherited more than just his furniture.

Not everyone shares my affection for brown furniture. For years, decorators and design magazines declared mahogany and cherry dated. Too dark. Too clunky.

Too serious. Everything had to be white, gray, or “coastal light.” Instagrammable. If your dining room can’t get 1,000 likes, is it even worth sitting down in it to eat?

But, as it always does, times and tastes change. Brown furniture is coming down from the attic. Designers now refer to it as “heritage” instead of “passé.”

Wood furniture, they now say, helps

infuse character, soul, and warmth into spaces. Heck, even Pantone’s 2025 color of the year is a warm brown called Mocha Mousse.

It’s clear to me this comeback isn’t just about color or “one day you’re in, the next you’re out.” I think it’s about craving something real when so much of life today feels artificial. Real materials feel comforting again, especially in a country that’s become morally veneered in gold gilt. Wood still tells the truth. It refuses to perform. It doesn’t chase likes, trends, or polls. It just stands there, steady and honest, reminding us that substance still outlasts spin.

Look, I’m not advocating a return to Early American décor. That wouldn’t be too comfortable for reading a book or watching a football game. Nor am I waxing nostalgic about “making interiors great again.” I’m simply glad people are beginning to re-evaluate what lasts— furniture, values, and ideas that favor substance over surface, decency over impropriety, continuity over churn. Which makes the recent wrecking ball aimed at the White House East Wing feel even more egregious. Once history is gone, it doesn’t refinish easily.

Brown furniture reminds me that the past and the future can coexist without whitewashing over the former. I’ve always liked a little patina in furniture, in art, and in people. It shows you’ve been around the block, taken a few knocks, and still stand solid.

So next time you’re up in Dover, stop by the Biggs Museum. I’m thankful for places like this. And for the furniture that reminds us to stand firm, show our grain, and not mistake gold gilt for virtue. ▼ Rich Barnett’s column just celebrated its 20th year in Letters. He is the author of two books and is an occasional contributor to Delaware Beach Life. His character-driven short stories have appeared in a variety of publications, most notably three times in Saints and Sinners’ annual LGBTQ fiction anthology. He can be reached at richbarnettwriter.com.

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43 Letters

Intersex Solidarity Day

BY JULIAN HARBAUGH

The Joy of Being In-Between Intersex Solidarity Day, also known as Intersex Day of Remembrance, observed since 2005, occurs each year on November 8. That date marks the birthday of Herculine Barbin, a 19th-century French intersex person whose story was brought to light after her death.

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I

f one thing has defined being in my twenties, it has been discovery—much of it self-discovery, but just as much from outside sources. One of those was learning I was intersex at the ripe age of 23, confirming a lifetime of suspicions and experiences that led me to that Planned Parenthood exam room where the news was broken to me.

But my diagnosis didn’t come with disappointment or tears as it does for some. On the contrary: I was elated.

My diagnosis came soon after I had taken the first steps towards medically transitioning as a trans man. I was finally letting go of years of fighting my own body in order to look as feminine as possible, and it turned out it was my intersex features I was fighting. The facial and body hair, my low alto voice, the weight I carried on my stomach and shoulders, my rapidly receding hairline—all features of my hyperandrogenism.

Hyperandrogenism is an intersex variation in people assigned female at birth that presents with very high androgens—the hormones we typically associate with cisgender men, like testosterone. When I got my hormone levels tested, my testosterone was in the 97th percentile for people assigned female at birth. What can I say—I’ve always been a high achiever!

As soon as I stopped shaving and went into recovery from my anorexia, my body masculinized quickly. In fact, I credit it with my realization that I didn’t want a feminine body at all and the beginning of my medical transition.

As a trans man, my intersex variation has been a blessing. I remember looking sorrowfully at the months- and years-long estimates for my hormone therapy results—would it really take six to 12 months for my voice to fully deepen?—and telling myself that the impacts would be here before I knew it. Turned out I was right—my voice started cracking and deepening three days after my first shot. The other effects rapidly followed, months ahead of schedule.

Why so quick? It was my hyperandrogenism—I was already in an androgen-dominant body despite being assigned female at birth. So there was no estrogen for the testosterone to fight against for control of my endocrine system. It simply entered my bloodstream and got to work as if I were a cisgender teenage boy going through puberty.

As a trans man, my intersex variation has been a blessing.

Even now, coming up on six years on testosterone, it continues to help me. I was recently off my testosterone for a period of 10 weeks due to insurance nonsense. (I’m thankfully back on it as of this writing.) Ten weeks is long enough that, for some transmasculine people, they risk their period coming back and losing some of their other results, like muscle definition, body fat distribution, and mental health benefits.

Rather than experiencing any of those effects, which are caused by loss of testosterone and reversal back to an estrogen-dominant endocrine system, I experienced the lesser-known sibling of menopause: andropause.

I was irritable, couldn’t sleep, my hair started shedding, and I had no energy—a bit like how I was before going on testosterone. Funny, that.

It felt like my body was pitching a fit over losing the balance it had been craving my entire life.

Being told you have an intersex variation can bring up a lot of complicated emotions.

Many of us have had our diagnosis hidden from us, or undergone surgery without our consent, under the belief that it will give us a “normal, happy life.” But we don’t need to be “fixed”—my story is proof that our variations can add immensely to our lives. We just have to be given the chance to live them on our terms.▼ Julian Harbaugh (he/him/they/them) is Marketing Specialist at CAMP Rehoboth

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47 Letters

Turkey in the Straw…

BY TERRI SCHLICHENMEYER

…or on the Platter

T

he natural habitat of a wild American turkey is generally a stand of mixed-wood trees with plenty of brush for cover, and a nearby pasture or field

for forage.

Or, depending on your viewpoint, the natural habitat of an American turkey could be a large ceramic platter covered with plenty of brushed-on butter and nearby bowls of side-dishes for your foraging pleasure.

Pick your category. The bottom line is that turkeys don’t just come from your grocer’s freezer and wild turkey isn’t just a liquid libation.

Let’s carve this story apart….

Back before microwaves and 7/11s, turkeys originated on this continent, possibly up to 20 million years ago. It was just another critter being a nuisance, no doubt, until roughly 500 BCE, when Indigenous people here and in what is now Mexico domesticated the bird. Did they know it would be delicious with the tiniest pool of sriracha sauce for dipping?

Possibly, but there are very strong indications that the Mayans believed the bird to be some sort of conduit for the gods or a status symbol, so maybe not.

At any rate, when the Europeans arrived in the New World, they were astounded. There was nothing like that bird at home, but they were eager to snag souvenirs for fam and friends left behind. That was around the year 1500, give or take, and turkeys were found everywhere, all over the lower continent and into what is now Canada. European explorers might’ve even taken a couple extras for funsies because there was room in the luggage: turkeys were significantly smaller then, but still larger than the familiar chickens.

You’d notice the similarities even today, in fact, though wild Meleagris gallopavo has long, gawky legs and a goofy stride. Wild male turkeys (called toms) are generally around three to threeand-a-half feet tall and weigh up to 25 pounds; hens are six to 12 inches smaller and are about half the toms’ weight.

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This year, Americans are slated to put nearly 70 million turkeys on the menu between November 25 and Christmas.

Domestic turkeys are considerably larger, having been bred and engineered to have a larger breast, the hands-down favorite for diners. Domestic toms can also weigh up to 40 pounds, depending on the breed, though the average is around 30 pounds at 12 to 19 weeks old, which is when they get the ax. Compare that to a roaster chicken of the same age, who might top the scales at 10 pounds.

In the wild, turkeys look brown from a distance but their feathers are more iridescent when you get up-close and personal. Domestic turkeys are generally white, which is another manmade feature. Tom turkeys, by the way, are not the only ones to fluff their feathers in that classic turkey pose; hens will do it to flirt with the toms, and even poults (adolescent turkeys) will strut their stuff for a nice photographer. And yes, turkeys can fly surprisingly far and high. They can also swim.

Despite what you were told in kindergarten, back when you made a “turkey” by tracing your hand with a crayon, there’s no evidence that turkey was served at the first Thanksgiving. No, the popularity of the bird on the table appears to have come from Ohio, in the early-to-mid 1800s, probably at the urging of Sara Josepha Hale. If her name

sounds familiar, there’s good reason: she wrote “Mary Had a Little Lamb” and she campaigned hard for the establishment of a national day of Thanksgiving. Abraham Lincoln obliged. Franklin Roosevelt nailed it down on the fourth Thursday of the month.

Also, sorry to break it to you, but Benjamin Franklin didn’t really lobby to make the turkey the national bird. He merely said that the turkey was “more respectable” than a bald eagle. Argue amongst yourselves.

Though the wild turkey was almost done-for in the early 1900s due to overhunting and a fungal disease that killed American chestnut trees (their once-preferred food), raising domestic turkeys hasn’t gone away in at least two millennia. A turkey farm today is considered “small” if it raises a mere 50,000 birds from chick to store; larger farms have bigger output, and that’s a very good thing: This year, Americans are slated to put nearly 70 million turkeys on the menu between November 25 and Christmas.

That’s a lot of leftovers to gobble up.▼ Terri Schlichenmeyer’s third book, The Book of Facts and Trivia: Science, came out in September 2024.

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49 Letters

Reflections

BY PATTIE CINELLI

Learning to Stay Calm During Chaos

R

ecently, I awoke excited about the day ahead I had planned with my friend of 35 years. Our time together is precious because a few years ago he was diagnosed with frontotemporal dementia (like Bruce Willis). My friend’s disappearance has been gradual.

The outgoing, gregarious, confident massage therapist has been slowly fading into a timid, unsure man whose conversations often float into oblivion.

When I stepped into the hall upstairs, outside my exercise room, ready to lift a few weights before my friend arose, my feet felt very wet. I heard a “squish” as I gingerly put one foot in front of the other.

My heart jumped. As I continued walking further down the hall it was, “squish, squish….” I moaned, “oh no, oh no, oh no!”

But—yes: Hours earlier, my friend had plugged the bathroom sink, left the water running, and gone to bed.

Nausea sent prickles crawling up my legs weaving their way into my belly when I realized the full impact of my friend’s absentmindedness. My shoulders tightened, my breath shortened, and my mind raced ahead to worst-case scenarios. I wanted to fix everything immediately.

The water had traveled out of the bathroom, down the carpeted hallway, and through the duct into my half bath, hallway, pantry, and bedroom closet on the first floor. At 7:30 a.m. I started calling anyone who I thought might know what I could do.

On the sixth call, I connected with a live human who gave me the name of a remediation company. Soon, the remediation company arrived to move furniture, disconnect the bathroom sink and the vanity, tear up the floors, rip out carpet padding, cut out ceilings and walls, and park eight industrial fans upstairs, in my living room and bedroom.

My friend was whisked away in record time, leaving me alone to deal with the fallout from the flood. Because I had never before used my insurance

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for a home claim, I was unaware of the process and ignorant of the extent of the disaster. What I did know, however, was how utterly overwhelmed and upset I was. It was the biggest house disaster I have ever faced. I knew how destructive water could be.

I may not be able to control the chaos around me, but I can quiet the chaos within me.

I also realized that I had to stop hyperventilating and start changing my thoughts for my health and well-being.

Surviving the chaos is not solved by panic and fear. I took a deep breath. It was a start to letting go of trying to control. I began searching for calm. Calm isn’t an escape. It’s creating space to breathe so I can endure and respond wisely.

It’s been a month since the big fans left. I still have holes in my ceilings and walls, exposed floorboards, a disconnected bathroom sink and vanity, torn-up carpet, a doorless office closet, and an office that is inaccessible because closet contents are piled high in the room. Even though water leaked only partially onto my downstairs floor, the entire first floor will have to be replaced. I’ve had to cancel planned visitors; I have no idea if the

work will be done before the holidays.

Even though I’m living in chaos, dust, and destruction, I’m calmer now. Tools to relieve stress that I’ve shared with clients for decades have proven valuable. I shifted my mindset. I stop myself when I start panicking, feel overwhelmed, or nervous. My mantra has become, “It’s all fixable,” which soothes me. Knowing it’s only “things” that are damaged—and not me or my dogs—is comforting.

I look around often to see what’s real now and don’t project into the future.

It’s so easy to let my monkey-mind swirl down into that “Woe is me” vortex. I feel better when I focus on simple tasks like straightening the piles of stuff from wet rooms and shelves that were hastily dumped anywhere I could find dry space.

Getting outside in the sunshine either on the pickleball court or walking my dogs lifts me out of the depressing doldrums of uncertainty. It also feels good to tell my story to others. I feel human and connected and enjoy empathy. A few times a week I listen to live music because it whisks me away from the havoc at home.

Surprised to recognize how much more tired than normal I am at this time, I’m learning that it’s okay to do less, not more. I’m limiting my exposure to draining situations, news, or people, nourishing my body with good food, water, and rest, and treating myself gently.

Not only do I remember that every crisis I’ve ever faced has eventually passed, but also that it ended despite me being stressed. I remind myself that the moments I stayed calm were the ones that carried me through. I visualize myself on the other side of this disaster. I see myself admiring my new floor, a fresh paint job, a new vanity and carpet. I may not be able to control the chaos around me, but I can quiet the chaos within me.

That’s where true calm begins.▼ Pattie Cinelli is a writer and a holistic health & fitness professional. Email her with questions or column ideas to: fitmiss44@aol.com.

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NOVEMBER 21, 2025

51 Letters

Friendsgiving

BY STEPHEN RASKAUSKAS

The Ultimate

LGBTQ+ HOLIDAY

E

very November, the United States prepares to reenact a national myth.

Grocery stores overflow with canned pumpkin and cranberry sauce.

Classrooms fill with paper feathers and construction paper hats.

All meant to honor a single, sanitized story of peace between settlers and Indigenous peoples, a moment of unity that supposedly birthed the American spirit.

But, of course, the “First Thanksgiving” is a fairy tale. The truth is that it was never a moment of harmony, but one of survival amidst the violence of colonialism.

For queer people, that contradiction is familiar. Many LGBTQ+ people know what it is to be invited into a space only to realize it was never truly built for us.

The American Thanksgiving table often carries its own rituals of exclusion and rejection.

But just as queer people have learned to build chosen families, we have also learned how to rewrite rituals. And that is how Friendsgiving, the younger, scrappier cousin of Thanksgiving, became the most quintessentially queer holiday of all.

Friendsgiving has no single origin story. It was born out of necessity, from apartments filled with friends who had nowhere else to go. It was born from people who could not or would not return to family homes that refused to see them, and it grew into a joyful rebellion.

Unlike Thanksgiving, Friendsgiving doesn’t demand loyalty to a myth of unity. Friendsgiving only asks that people show up for one another as they are with unspoken understanding that family can be chosen. For queer people, that act alone is revolutionary.

This year, Friendsgiving celebrations take on even more meaning. Now, America’s contradictions are sharper than ever.

Federal immigration raids have swept

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through cities and towns from coast to coast. Thousands have been detained in violent operations that target entire communities. Human rights groups report that even US citizens have been caught in these sweeps.

Children have gone missing in detention transfers. Still, hundreds of people are missing after being detained at the infamous prison camp called Alligator Alcatraz. And, Indigenous communities, the only ones with any true claim to the land, continue to fight for sovereignty while watching state and corporate entities continue to steal that same land from them.

And at the same time, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), which puts food on the table for more than 42 million Americans, has been slashed and delayed due to partisan gridlock in Washington. Millions are waiting weeks to receive only partial food benefits. And food banks can’t keep up with demand.

Friendsgiving…is a holiday born not from conquest but from survival, not from purity but from mixture, not from myth but from the stark realities of modern life.

SNAP recipients are often misunderstood. Most recipient households include working adults, the elderly, or people with disabilities. Many households include people who are employed by large companies like Walmart or Amazon, where low wages leave workers relying on public assistance to eat.

Walmart alone accounts for about a quarter of all SNAP grocery spending.

And ironically, the company’s dominance comes from low prices, online SNAP

acceptance, and its presence in rural and suburban areas with limited food access.

Red states receive more SNAP benefits per capita than blue states due to higher poverty, weaker state safety nets, and lower costs of living. A 2025 Milken Institute Review found red states receive 23 percent more federal benefits overall than blue states, and 31 percent of those benefits are food support compared to 21 percent in blue states.

In the current context, a queer Friendsgiving is not a luxury. It is survival, solidarity, and protest disguised as a dinner party. It is a reminder that while the government debates who deserves to eat, queer communities have always known how to take care of each other when traditional support systems fail.

LGBTQ+ mutual-aid networks, food drives, and kitchen collectives have long existed at the intersection of queerness and care. A Friendsgiving potluck is not just comfort food. The queer Friendsgiving table is a model of resilience, and resilience is what we do best!

Traditional Thanksgiving pretends that gratitude and unity were America’s founding virtues. Friendsgiving, by contrast, accepts that community has always been...complicated. Friendsgiving acknowledges that “coming together” only means something when everyone is invited, when everyone has a place at the table.

Queer people know that chosen family is not just an emotional refuge but an act of resistance against systems that try to define belonging through bloodline, citizenship, or conformity.

Still, the queer community is not immune to exclusion. As LGBTQ+ people gain visibility and, for some, privilege, that visibility can harden into hierarchy.

There are queer people who speak the language of liberation while practicing racism, xenophobia, and transphobia.

Trans-exclusionary radical feminists

Friendsgiving acknowledges that “coming together” only means something when everyone is invited, when everyone has a place at the table. weaponize feminism to exclude trans women. Many gay men mimic the politics of White nationalism under the banner of “free speech.” More and more queer folks are emboldened to express their bigotry online and in person in recent months.

We should know better. And we should do better. We understand what it means to be discriminated against. Why continue the cycle of hate?

In a year when immigrant families are being torn apart and food insecurity is spreading, it is worth asking, “what good is queer liberation if liberation doesn’t include everyone?”

Friendsgiving offers a chance to repair that. The act of gathering, of cooking, of sharing food and stories is political when the world insists on division. A queer Friendsgiving table can become an example of intersectionality, one that insists that gratitude cannot mean comfort for some and exclusion for others.

To share food in 2025 is to make a statement. We can’t let the state decide who is fed and who is forgotten.

In many queer homes, the Friendsgiving table might look different from the Norman Rockwell image of Thanksgiving.

There might be tamales next to mashed potatoes, kimchi or curry instead of green bean casserole, or some snacks picked up from the corner store moments before the meal. There might be drag queens, trans elders, and queer immigrants laughing over micheladas. Friendsgiving is messy, multilingual, loud, and real.

Friendsgiving is America as it could be, not as it was imagined by those who wrote the myths.

What makes Friendsgiving the ultimate LGBTQ+ holiday is not its aesthetic, (though the aesthetic is absolutely giving, friends!). It’s the ethos behind

it. Chosen family, radical hospitality, and community care.

These are the same principles that built queer bars, Pride marches, and underground support networks during the AIDS crisis. Friendsgiving carries that

When we break bread, let’s make sure everyone gets a piece.

Many local organizations accept food donations, supply food pantries, and welcome those who need food. Just a few are listed below.

Cape Henlopen Food Basket Rehoboth Beach capehenlopenfoodbasket.org Community Resource Center Rehoboth Beach rehobothcommunitycenter.org Epworth UMC Food Pantry Rehoboth Beach Epworth.faith Food Bank of Delaware Milford (multiple collection/ distribution locations) fbd.org Milton Community Food Pantry Milton miltonpantry.org Sussex County Caroling on the Circle (annual food drive) Georgetown sussexcountyde.org Indivisible Southern Delaware (multiple collection locations) indivisiblesode.org

legacy forward. It is a holiday born not from conquest but from survival, not from purity but from mixture, not from myth but from the stark realities of modern life.

And yet, gratitude means little without action. As food assistance falters across the country, queer communities have an opportunity to turn celebration into service. That might mean donating to local food pantries, volunteering at soup kitchens, or simply making sure a neighbor is fed. Friendsgiving might mean sharing information about immigrant rights or speaking out when racism or anti-trans sentiment surfaces in queer spaces. Friendsgiving can be celebratory and political.

Every queer person knows that family is not always where you come from, but who shows up for you. Friendsgiving makes that truth visible. It is a ritual of reclamation, taking the language of Thanksgiving—of gratitude, unity, and belonging—and queering it into something real.

Friendsgiving reminds us that while the state builds walls, queer people build bridges. The Friendsgiving table is proof that another kind of America is possible.

This year, as the country debates who deserves to be here and who deserves to eat, a queer Friendsgiving offers the answer: everyone. Everyone deserves a seat and a plate. Everyone deserves to be safe, seen, and have their story celebrated.

When we break bread, let’s make sure everyone gets a piece. Even if that means a bit of personal sacrifice. Will you accept the challenge to lead by example? ▼ Stephen Raskauskas is a Sussex County native who has produced content for radio, TV, digital, and print.

NOVEMBER 21, 2025

53 Letters

The Sea Salt Table

BY ED CASTELLI

Egg Roulade STEPS

 Line a large baking sheet with lightly oiled foil or parchment and preheat your oven to 400°.

 Whisk together:

• 12 large eggs • ½ cup half-and-half • ¼ cup flour • 1 cup shredded Vermont cheddar (plus more for serving) Pour into pan and bake 12 to 14 minutes until set.

Take pan out and turn off the oven, leaving the door closed. Allow eggs to cool until just warm.

Gently spread with the following, leaving one

M

y husband, sister, and I recently hiked southern Vermont on a trip called “Inn to Inn.” Four days, four inns, for a total of 47 miles. They provided meals. And moved our luggage, while we schlepped to the next destination.

It was exhilarating and spectacular. It was challenging and exhausting.

Highly recommend! As all three of us are 60-ish, it was a now-or-never kind of trip.

My husband and I tend to plan very physical vacations. Lots of hiking and biking. We figure there’s time to sit in a Paris cafe later. We prefer to trek Diamond Head, Angel’s Landing, and Cadillac Mountain until we can’t anymore.

Being outside is the ultimate detox, giving the brain time for mindless wonderings. Calls, texts, social media, and news apps silenced. Snapping twigs and crunching leaves underfoot. This trip gave us all that and much, much more.

Stand still on a Vermont trail and it’s actually really quiet. As in true silence, not even a far-above plane. Imagine that. And we had very little cell service.

As the disclaimer said, “Vermonters are very friendly. If you run into trouble, knock on doors.”

The whole experience could not have been better. Although sadly, the changing leaves were a little past peak, unusual for early October. Blame months without rain. But the inn keepers were exceptional. As were the hamlets and villages. And of course, country stores.

I had to laugh because when we met the rest of our group, everyone was a bit reserved. Then as shared misery kicked in, we bonded like we were survivors stranded on an island. Dinner time rocked with stories from the trail, and tips for various aches and pains.

And the food! Well, it was more than just sustenance. It was three and four courses, every morning and evening.

This month I’m highlighting a recipe shared by Chef Ilona Roberts at the Golden Stage Inn (owners Michael and Julie-Lynn Wood). Her Egg Roulade.

This rolled omelet was delicious and made for a beautiful presentation. I can’t wait to serve this to friends and family.

Let’s get started, shall we?

Letters 54

NOVEMBER 21, 2025

inch uncovered on one of the 13" sides: • 4 oz softened cream cheese • 2 handfuls of fresh chopped spinach

Use the parchment paper to lift and roll from the covered 13" side. Reposition the roll on the paper and put it back in the oven to set and keep warm.

For the sauce, heat in a small pan: • 1 cup chicken or vegetable broth

Mix the following, then dissolve into the warmed broth: • 2 tsp cornstarch • 1 Tbl Dijon mustard • Pinch of dried Italian spice Cut the roll into 1" slices. Serve two per plate with a drizzle of sauce and a sprinkle of Vermont cheddar.

TIPS • When I’m working with parchment paper, I like to crumple it into a ball then flatten. Otherwise, it wants to roll back up.

• Ilona said this can be split into two 9x13 or 10x14 glass pans.

• If you refrigerate the roll, rewarm it in the oven covered with foil. She recommends including some crumpled wet paper towel under the foil, along the sides, for a gentle steaming effect. ▼ Ed and his husband Jerry split their time between homes near Harrisburg Pennsylvania and Bethany Beach. Ed builds websites to pay the bills but loves to cook, garden, hike, and dote on their dog Atticus.

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55 Letters

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NOVEMBER 21, 2025

57 Letters

View Point

BY RICHARD J. ROSENDALL

Building on Victory

The Bloom Is Off Trump’s Stink-blossom

V

oters handed Democrats a sweeping victory across the country in the November 4 elections. Donald Trump’s Republicans paid dearly for their inability to restrain or conceal their recklessness and cruelty.

In response to being roundly repudiated at the polls, Trump boasted, lied, and made insults and threats. Mind you, this is a man who confuses dementia screening with an IQ test. And he once proposed nuking hurricanes.

Trump’s howlers, including the claim that every election he loses is rigged, are persuading fewer and fewer people.

You would never know, on this bright autumn morning, that a pitched battle is underway for the soul of America. As I sip my coffee in the McDonald’s, a little girl walking by with her daddy climbs into the chair at the next table. She is holding a TV remote control for some reason. I ask her not to point it at me because I don’t want to be switched off.

To be honest, there are people I wouldn’t mind switching off, at least from my newsfeed. For example, I saw this headline concerning an obnoxious congresswoman: “Nancy Mace escalates fallout from foul-mouthed airport meltdown with legal threats after criticism from fellow Republicans.”

Is it possible that Rep. Mace, who is running for governor of South Carolina and has been calling trans people crazy, is so starved of attention that she has to scream at officers in airports and threaten lawsuits? I stress that I’m just a humble commentator and do not mean to provoke her.

I can’t help recalling that the phrase “Trump Derangement Syndrome” arose not as a reference to Trump’s own mental health issues but as an effort to deflect such concerns onto his critics. Lately, however, we who wish to be rid of the Worst President Ever have gone from being mad to being domestic terrorists in the eyes of Trump diehards. We are also called insurrectionists, despite never Letters 58

NOVEMBER 21, 2025

having incited a riot at the US Capitol, because the leading insurrectionist—who deems himself above the law—is considering invoking the Insurrection Act to consolidate dictatorial power.

You would never know, on this bright autumn morning, that a pitched battle is underway for the soul of America.

Are you keeping up with all this? I know it sounds crazy. You never know what jarring images you’ll stumble upon.

On election night I switched to CNN, saw former Chicago mayor Rahm Emanuel, and immediately reached for my remote control like that little girl in the McDonald’s. And Rahm is a Democrat!

New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani is an immigrant who grew up in New York. I am a native Washingtonian who grew up in Maryland’s 8th congressional district, currently represented by constitutional scholar Jamie Raskin.

Raskin has happily dubbed Mamdani an FDR Democrat.

You might think comparing a gifted young politician to Franklin Delano Roosevelt would not scandalize anyone at this point, but you would be wrong. Lots of

Republicans still decry FDR as a socialist. These are the same people set on robbing millions of their healthcare and nutritional assistance.

Trump, who hosted a Great Gatsby-themed party at Mar-a-Lago hours before millions of Americans lost their SNAP benefits, touted the Roaring Twenties as a high point in America’s past. I don’t want to burst his bubble, so please don’t tell him that the 1920s ended in a stock market crash that ushered in the Great Depression. God forbid his tariffs lead to another crash. He would likely blame it on Mamdani, rebrand it a communist Islamic jihad, and deport it to Eswatini.

Democrats like me support capitalism, but with guardrails. By contrast, the oligarchs—epitomized by Elon Musk with his recently approved $1 trillion pay package—love to blame others for the harm they cause, while making off with the moolah. Do not fall for it.

I am rooting for Mamdani, who wants working people to be able to afford to live in New York. He includes trans people in his vision. His victory speech was a far cry from the Islamophobic caricature painted by his detractors, who range from right-wing pundits to Andrew Cuomo.

Based on the smears, you might expect the mayor-elect to rush to Washington to demolish part of the White House, had the president not beaten him to it. Yet in the wake of Mamdani’s historic victory, billionaires who fought tooth and nail to defeat him bent the knee and pledged their help.

Mamdani is not the model for all Democrats; he reflects but one part of our diverse coalition. The midterm elections are a year away. All our voices and votes will be needed to defeat the authoritarians. ▼ Richard Rosendall is a writer and activist who can be reached at rrosendall@me.com.

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59 Letters

CAMPshots

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Amethyst Diamond, Linda Wildasin, Maureen Doyle, Steve Wildasin, Kelly Doyle, Thomas Taylor, Bill Quinn, Brett Svensson, Donna West, Madeleine Overturf, Kim Leisey, Murray Archibald, DE State Senator Russ Huxtable, Congresswoman Sarah McBride, Chris Beagle, Matt Castrina, Lori Kline, Jamie Forshey, Kevin Pelland, Diamond St. Cartier, Jett Gomez, Matt Whalen, Ashley Williams.

More CAMPshots page 62

1

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2

NOVEMBER 21, 2025

61 Letters

SCENES FROM REHOBOTH BEACH

1

(Continued from page 61) THIS PAGE (left to right) 1) at CAMP Rehoboth Block Party: Ty Boyer, Kelsey Butler, Letez Hudson, DE Rep Claire Snyder Hall, Vienna Cavazos, Michael Whitlock, Matt Hocking, Bryan Warner, Mike Nonemaker, Amine Raif, Lee Lachmund, Alicia Mickenberg, Kathleen Fitzgerald, Mark Magliocco, Allen Ragpa, Ken Smith, Greg Oliver, Bill Taney, Andres Tremois, Michael Reamy, Sandra Skidmore, Bill Fuchs.

OPPOSITE PAGE: 2) at CAMP Rehoboth Block Party: Logan Farro, Bonnie Quesenberry, Anastasia Epstein, Mark McDaniels, Wendy Stevens, Karen Unger, Donna Laszczynski; 3) at Brandywine SPCA’s Bark on the Boards: Kadet Kelly, Aura Iris, Greg Foust, Mary Foust, Keith Petrack, Michael Fetchko, Tom Kiddy, Jim Miller, Paul Frene; 4) at Sea Witch Pet Parade: Andy Melnyk, Jim Kappuzi, Jermaine Goldminer, Shawn Wright, Rick James, Lucas Ricardo, Geoff Jackson.

(More CAMPshots page 88) Letters 62

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Puppy Love and More Block Party!

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63 Letters

‘Tis the Season!

BY MIKEY ROX

The Ultimate Guide to Queer Gift Giving Some gifts scream practical, others whisper luxury, and a few flat-out blur the lines. From cocoa that feels ceremonial to a cologne that lingers like a suggestive smirk, this year’s ultimate gift picks prove that thoughtful (and occasionally naughty) presents don’t have to be prosaic. Welcome to your holiday cheat sheet for festive tangibles that get noticed, remembered, and maybe even result in a peck of gratitude planted under the mistletoe. Consensually, of course.

Amber Glass Champagne Flutes Pop the champs—but make it vintage. These tulip-shaped stunners in amber-tinted glass bring all the Gatsby vibes without the jazzage drama.

Whether you’re toasting a milestone or celebrating a Tuesday, their seven-ounce capacities make ‘em as practical as they are pretty. Pair with a thoughtful bottle of bubs and gift with a glittering wink. $18, NantucketLooms.com Disaster Playbook by Here Comes the Apocalypse Because the end of the world shouldn’t be a solo act, this spiral-bound guide is your step-by-step roadmap to surviving and thriving when everything else goes sideways— which might be sooner than you think. Packed with checklists, drills, and a healthy dose of humor, it’s like a survival manual written by your most prepared (and slightly snarky) friend.

Whether you’re prepping for a zombie apocalypse or, more realistically, REVOLUTION!, this playbook’s got your back. $40, HereComesTheApocalypse.com Letters 64

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Villeroy & Boch Royal Classic Christmas Collection Every meal is a mini celebration—with whimsy at every place setting—in Villeroy & Boch’s Royal Classic festive dinnerware collection that hits all the right notes. Made from premium German porcelain, it features nostalgic little toys, nutcrackers, and rocking horses in delicate relief, giving your holiday spread a playful but refined twist. Dishwasherand microwave-safe, it’s luxe without the fuss. Gift a piece to a special someone, or start a collection they’ll use (and show off) for years to come. $22-$363, Villeroy-Boch.com Woo(e)d Cologne

British GQ recently crowned Woo(e)d

by ALTAIA the “Best Date Night Fragrance,” and honestly, they nailed it.

Confident without being cocky— smoky gaïac and Atlas cedarwood grounds the room while supple leather and spicy cardamom do all the flirting— it’s a scent that lingers like good conversation and soft candlelight. Gift it to the one who always turns heads—or keep it for yourself and let them come to you. $255, BeautyHabit.com Cipriani Prosecco Gift Set Effervescent with stone-fruit sweetness and a touch of Italian flair, the Cipriani Bellini & Prosecco gift set brings brunch-level glamour to any day of the week. The Bellini blends rich whitepeach purée with sparkling wine, while

the dry ’secco keeps things crisp and celebratory. Pop a bottle, pour a flute, and suddenly winter weeknights feel like a party—even with your pants off. $36, TotalWine.com Lococo Cocoa Kit

Keep the run-of-the-mill mugs in the cabinet this Christmas and pull out Lococo’s handcrafted Oaxacan versions that demand you slow down and sip like it matters. Paired with a wooden scoop, rechargeable frother, and Lococo’s signature spice hot-chocolate blend (vegan, gluten-free, with adaptogenic mushrooms), this holiday kit turns Mexi-cocoa into a mini ritual you’ll look forward to. Perfect for anyone who loves a little indulgence with a side of ¡A huevo! energy.

Manta Sleep Mask Total blackout, zero pressure on the eyes, and Bluetooth speakers built right into the straps, this ain’t your mama’s sleep mask—but it could be. The Manta SOUND sleep mask features C-shaped eye cups that block every hint of light while ultra-thin speakers deliver your favorite white noise, meditation, or late-night playlist straight to your ears.

With 24-hour battery life, breathable fabric, and easy-to-adjust sound, it turns

any bed (or airplane seat) into a fivestar sleep suite. Perfect for anyone who treats shut-eye like an art form. $159, MantaSleep.com Shacklelock Necklace Turn the industrial-chic vibe of a shackle into a sleek statement. Mi Tesoro’s platinum-plated stainless-steel necklace sits on an 18-inch wheat chain, featuring a shackle-style latch pendant that’s waterproof, tarnish-free, and totally fuss-less. Beyond style, it nods to a classic gesture in the queer leather community: replacing a traditional Master lock with something elegant to quietly signal belonging to someone special.

Wear it solo for a minimalist edge or layer it like you mean it; either way this

piece locks in both your look and your intentions. $90, MiTesoroJewelry.com Molekule Air Purifier For the one who treats their space like a sanctuary (or just can’t stand sneezes mid-Brunch Club), the Molekule Air Pro is magic in motion. Covering up to 1,000 square feet, it doesn’t just capture allergens, VOCs, and smoke—it destroys them, leaving your air feeling luxury-clean. FDA-cleared as a Class II medical device, its serious science disguised as modern design. Gift it to your city-dwelling, pet-loving, candle-burning friend who likes their living room as pristine as their Instagram feed. $1,015, Molekule.com Parkside Flask Mojave Edition Wine nights get a desert glow-up with Parkside’s limited-edition 750-milliliter all-in-one flask draped in sun-washed bronze and badland hues like sage,

sand, and terracotta— with magnetic stemless tumblers that snap on for effortless shareability.

It keeps your vino chilled for 24 hours, pours without drips (no tears for spilled rosé, please), and even lets you laser-engrave your own mantra or inside joke.

Perfect for picnics, surprise rooftop clinks, or gifting to your favorite wine (or desert) rat. $149, HighCampFlasks.com Mikey Rox is an award-winning journalist and LGBT lifestyle expert whose work has published in more than 100 outlets across the world.

Connect with he/him on Instagram @mikeyroxtravels.

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The Real Dirt

BY ERIC W. WAHL

The Ancient Oak

Wisdom, Strength, Longevity

A

fter almost 20 years together, my partner and I decided to tie the knot this month of November, especially since that right might be taken away from us within the next year. Saying our vows to each other, and really listening to the words, I was reminded of my favorite tree….

The oak tree, with its immense strength, longevity, and deep roots, has long been revered across cultures as a symbol of endurance and steadfastness.

In Delaware—where several native oak species define much of the local landscape—the oak holds not only ecological importance but also deep metaphorical ties to enduring partnerships, especially marriage. Exploring its symbolism, cultural meanings, and environmental role reveals why the oak remains one of the most powerful natural emblems of unity and resilience.

Throughout history, the oak tree has symbolized strength, stability, and fidelity—all virtues central to a successful marriage. In many European traditions, the oak represented the union between heaven and earth due to its towering stature and deep roots. Similarly, marriage joins two individuals into a partnership that must be both lofty in vision and grounded in commitment.

In Celtic lore, the oak was sacred to the Druids, who saw it as the “king of trees” and a living representation of endurance and protection. Couples married under the spreading canopy of an oak were believed to be blessed with longevity and fertility. The tree’s acorns, small yet powerful seeds of new life, symbolize the potential for growth and renewal within marriage.

In modern symbolism, giving oak wood or planting an oak sapling has become a meaningful gesture for newlyweds—representing a commitment to nurture their bond as patiently as one would nurture the slow-growing but steadfast oak.

Culturally and ecologically, oaks are Letters 66

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seen as demanding yet rewarding trees— much like strong relationships that require patience and care. In Delaware, several species flourish, including the white oak (Quercus alba), red oak (Quercus rubra), and willow oak (Quercus phellos). Each requires specific conditions to thrive:

The oak tree, with its immense strength, longevity, and deep roots, has long been revered across cultures as a symbol of endurance and steadfastness.

• Soil: Well-drained, loamy soils are ideal. While oaks tolerate clay and sand, they prefer nutrient-rich conditions to support their deep roots.

• Sunlight: Oaks need full sun to develop broad, sturdy crowns—symbolic of openness and transparency in relationships.

• Time: These trees grow slowly, often taking decades to reach maturity.

This patience mirrors the slow and steady strengthening of marital bonds over time.

Culturally, planting an oak often accompanies milestones—marriages, births, and anniversaries—signifying the

enduring legacy families hope to pass on.

Beyond symbolism, the oak tree plays a foundational role in Delaware’s ecology.

Oaks are considered keystone species, supporting a vast network of life: • Wildlife Habitat: Oaks provide food and shelter for over 500 species of caterpillars, which in turn sustain Delaware’s songbirds. Their acorns feed deer, turkeys, squirrels, and other native fauna.

• Carbon Storage and Soil Health: Mature oaks store significant amounts of carbon, improving air quality and mitigating climate change effects. Their deep roots prevent erosion and enhance soil stability.

• Biodiversity Anchor: Forests dominated by oaks—such as those found in the piedmont and coastal plain regions of Delaware—create diverse microhabitats that sustain countless species of plants, fungi, and insects.

These ecological roles reinforce the symbolic lesson of the oak: that lasting strength is found not in isolation, but in interdependence—a lesson equally vital in marriage and in the natural world.

The oak tree’s symbolism of strength, endurance, and connection makes it a fitting metaphor for marriage. Its deep roots, slow growth, and enduring presence embody the patience and resilience required for lasting love. In Delaware, where oaks anchor the state’s forests and nurture its ecosystems, the tree’s significance extends beyond metaphor—it is a living testament to the power of stability and balance. To plant an oak in Delaware soil, whether in celebration of a union or stewardship of the land, is to honor both the enduring human spirit and the natural world that sustains it.

Have fun and let’s garden together. ▼ Eric W. Wahl is Landscape Architect at Pennoni Associates, and President of the Delaware Native Plant Society.

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OUR SUPPORTERS make it happen PURPLE Greg Albright & Wes Combs X* Sondra N. Arkin X* Carol Bresler & Carolyn Billinghurst X* Dr. Bruce Brown & Joe Ilardi Pat Catanzariti & Carole Ramos* Beth Cohen & Fran Sneider X* Lorne Crawford & Simon Fares Polly Donaldson Skip Dye & Steven King* Will Freshwater & Stephen Cremen Cindy Gruman & In Memory of Angela Strano* Judy & Carole Jesiolowski James W. Johnson & Matthew H. Shepard X* Melissa & Amanda Kaufman X* Russell Koerwer & Stephen Schreiber X* Kim Leisey & Kathy Solano Anita Matson Celie & Tabitha Niehaus Chris Rinaldi & Brian Powers X* Jennifer Rubenstein & Diane Scobey X* Danny Sebright Gary Seiden & Ah Bashir X* Leslie Sinclair & Debbie Woods X* S. Hope Vella Jen Walker X* Charles Wedding & In Memory of Ronald A. Bessette Christopher Yochim* Karen Zajick & Jennifer Weeks

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ORANGE Dawn Alexander & W. Kerr Gracie* James Apistolas & Christopher Galanty* Romulus Barba & Dean Yanchulis* Miriam Barton* James Beal & In Memory of David Van Patter* Sue Becker & ME Wivel Jeri Berc X* Bea Birman & Mary Malgoire Kathy Board & Jackie Maddalena* Boland Family, In Memory of Michael J. Kelly* Bill Briganti & Gary Moore* Ronald Butt & Steve Cannon* William Byron & Ali Lazur* James Carfagno & David Szumski* Deborah Carroll Chris Coburn & Anne Kazak X* Lois Cortese & Jill Stokes X* Carl Alan Cox & Darin Henderson Kay Creech & Sharon Still* Billie Criswell & Graham Spellman Kathy Davison & Ruth Dickerson X* Ann De Blasi Linda DeFeo X* J. Lynne Dement & Lisa J. Snyder* Anne Denner & Nancy Maguire Karen DeSantis & Carol Brice* Romy Diaz & Dennis Bann* Donna Dolce* Kevin Doss & Arie Venema* Arlyce Dubbin & Katie Heintz* Lissa Dulany Brenda Dunn & Karen Anderson* Mary Dupont Susan Eig & Ellen Schiff X* Jeanne Embich* Peggy & Evie Englebert Continued on page 70

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Continued from page 68 Robin Esham Maureen Ewadinger* Ellen Feinberg & Lesley Rogan X* Paul Finn & Joseph Porporino* Gary Fisher & Josh Bushey* Patricia Fitzsimons Deb Fox & In Memory of Deb Bonneau* Peter Garneau & Dennis Rodriguez Kathleen Gilroy & Rosanne Marroletti* Ron Glick & Tien Pham* William Gluth & Channing Daniel* Ed Gmoch* Gail Gormley* Joe Gottschall & Scott Woody* Maryanne Graham Debbie Grant & Carol Liewen* Tracey & Erica Hellman* Bill Hillegeist X* Vance Hudgins & Denny Marcotte* John H. Hulse X* Janet Idema & Patricia Higgins* Marilyn Kates & Laura Glenn* Rob & Jean Krapf X* Barbara Lang & Diane Grillo* Jim Lawrence & Bob Palandrani Jim Lesko* Marsha Mark & Judy Raynor* Marie Martinucci & Pam Kozey* James Mastoris & Edward Chamberlain X* Michael & Stephan Maybroda Kevin McDonald & Sean McClafferty* Liz McGovern & Judy Eckert Doreen Millon & Julie Boughn* Sandy Neverett & Pam Cranston X* Sandra Oropel & Linda Frese* Sandra Pace & Barbara Passikoff X* Steve Parker* Patricia Pawling & Jennifer Butz* Rina Pellegrini* Colleen Perry & Jane Kuhfuss* Joanne Picone & Kathy Bostedo* Susan Reinagel & Dawn Henderson* Judy Rosenstein & Elva Weininger X* Deborah & Charles Ross X* Michael Safina & Tim Bean Katherine Sams* Sheryl Schulte & Jeanne LaVigne* Teri Seaton* Frank Shockley & Arthur Henry* Susan Shollenberger* Guillermo Silveira Tina Snapp & Susan Leathery* Robert Stoltzfus & Gerald Warhola* Sandra Sullivan & Lorie Seaman* Terrence Sullivan* Trudie Thompson & David Welch* Lisa & Nikki Turgeon-Williams James Vernicek & Jeff Dailey* Joseph Vescio Tama Viola* Scott Wagner & John Sohonage* Don Wainwright & Tom Jamison* Paula Walker & Gayle Dumonceaux Troy Watson & Dennis Wolfgang* Don Wessel & In Memory of Donald Prol* Westminster Presbyterian Church Ralph Wiest & Anthony Peraine* Lynne Wilmer & Jeannie Marsh Melanie Wolfe & Monica Niccolai* Robert T. Wright & Jack Lim* Sherri Wright & Dick Byrne*

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Niki Zaldivar & Cecil McNeil X* Helaine Zinaman & Roselyn Abitbol X*

RED Guy Abernathey X* Dale Adams Jim Affonco X Mark Aguirre & Wayne Gleason X C.J. Albro Holly Alden X Bill Alldredge X Chris Allison Stephani Allison & Judith Gorra X* Katherine Alteneder Marge Amodei & Penni Hope* Anthony Andalft & Marvin A. Lawson Andrea Andrus & In Memory of Maggie Shaw X Peter Antolini X Patricia Antonisse X Cynthia Arno* Gaileen Atchison Diane Athanas Auto Gallery - Bryan Hecksher X* Josh Bach & Edward Ginley Kathleen Bailey X Christine A. Baker John Baker & Richard Latham X* Linda Balatti & Shirley Gilmer X* Lana Baldwin Ruth Ball & Mary Ellen Jankowski* Curtiss Barrows X* John Batchelor X* Deborah Bea* Karen Beck* Alex Belano & Ron Laxton Bernice Bell & Susan Marney George Benes & Michael Mallee X Joe Benshetler & Kurt Angell John Berdini X* Abby Bernstein & Karen Frank X* Lisa Beske* Christine Bielenda & Karen Feuchtenberger* Thomas Biesiadny X* Debra Bievenour John Billig & Eu Han Lee Lorraine Biros* Cathin Bishop & Laura Simon X Ann Black & Kaye Wachsmuth X Eric Blondin - State Farm Insurance Rehoboth Beach* Betty Blue & Jill Stewart* Jacquelyn Blue X Rev. Dr. Tom Bohache & Tom Laughingwolf Simmons X Annabelle Boire X* Carl Bomberger & Mike Rhoads* Robin Bond & Leanna Johannes* Joy Boone & Marina Simmers X Randall Borgerson X Susan Borke X Laura Borsdorf X* Lora Bottinelli Nancy Bouse & Norma Morrison X* David & Donna Bowman X Barb Boyer Deni Boyer & Loretta Imbrogono* Brian Boyle & Larry Gee X* Beth Bozman* Jim Brady & Mike Hays X Susan Brinsfield & Barbara Devenport*

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Debora Brooke* Jennifer Broomfield & Dana Broadway Ellenor Brown Kevin Brown X Matty Brown Tom Brown & In Memory of James Lemly X* Erin Bryan Carol Buck Geoffrey Burkhart & Bruce Williams* Carol L. Burnett X Timothy B. Bush X Richard Buske & Shawn McHugh James Byrnes X Chris & Richard Cahill X Ingrid Callmann & Karen Askins* Leslie Calman & Jane Gruenebaum* David Camorali John Camp X Pat Campagna & Debra Sansoucie Cabrina Campbell & Kimberly Olson Elizabeth Campbell John Campbell Terri Campbell & Victoria Smith Michele Campisi & Julie A. Slick X Joe Canter Jim Carlo X* Justine Carpenter X Shirley Carpenter & Mary Coldren X* Lisa Carrol & Deb Dubois X* David Case & Ray Buckingham Kathy Casey & Jean Burgess X* Jo Cason & Peggy Neidlinger* Teresa Cason X Maria Castillo* Peggy Castle & Debbie Geismar Sara Cavendish & Wendy Bunce X Center for Healthier Relationships, Individuals, & Sexualities Linda Chaney & Irene Lawlor* Ann Mei Chang Helen Chang & Pat Avery* Matthew Chapman Dr. Harvey J. Chasser X Dan Childers & Ted Hernandez* Tom Childers & John Hall X* Sandra Chinchilla & Michelle Holmes X* Dennis Chupella & In Memory of Rob White X* Theodore Ciccone Norma K. Clark X Rob Cline* Barbara Clipper Amy Clouse & Betty Long X Julie Cockley Gary Colangelo & Gerald Duvall X* Anne Cole & Sandra Freeman Carolyn Cole X* Stuart Comstock-Gay X Shelly Conaway Inez Conover X Sharon Conover Bill Cooley & Ken Watkins DVM X* Josh Cooper & Steve Rathburn* Jeffery A. Coover X Edith Coppotelli & Joan Ciolko E. Corbin Amy J. Cormier & Alison C. Cormier Michael Cornell X Elissa Corrado Renate Costner Richard Coyle Becky & Tom Craft X*

Wendy Cramer & Carolyn Baranowski* Thomas Croce Robert Crocetti X Bill Cross & David McCall X Helene Cuadra Mark Cunningham & Ken Tattersall X Rich Custer* Howard Cyr & Lynn Ashley* Ellen Dahl* Judith Daleo Carol Davidson Jeff Davidson & Steve Yahn* Denise Davis & Jeanne Bilanin Graeme Davis* Jeremiah Davis* Marsha Davis X* Mike Davis Frederick Dean & Steven Swierzy X Linda Dean & Donna Whiteside* Penny Lee Dean* Scott Dechen & James Maino* Michael Decker & Arley Jaimes X* Susan Deise & Jerri Budzinski* Susan Delaney & In Memory of Susan “Susie” Ball X Delaware Valley Legacy Fund X Bernie Delia X Vincent DeLissio Tracy Denton & Brenda Welsh David DeVargas & Steven Champion X Mary Devine Dawn Devries & Helen Krum* Lori Dewald Henry & Marcia DeWitt X Robert Diehl & Michael Palmer X Daniel Digiorgio & John Edwards Phyllis Dillinger* Mary Dipietro & Wendy Schadt* Deb Dobransky & Ketty Bennett* Arthur Dochterman X David & Lizann Dockety X Peg Dolan & Mary McDevitt X Frances Doyle X* Paul Dradransky X Zita Dresner Michael Driscoll & Ben McOmber X Susan Dube & Diana Patterson* Barry Dunkin* Deborah Duran* Gene Dvornick X* Paul Dwyer X* Sue Early X* Susan Ebbitt AJ Eckman Eden Restaurant X Richard Egler Laurene Hedrick Eheman & Deb Hedrick Gail Elliott & Bea Hickey* Kay Ellis* Lisa Evans & Joann Gusdanovic X Jacqueline Everett & Vicki St. Germain Jean Falise & Karen Belles Bill Fanelli X John Farley & Dennis Wilson X* Susan Farr & Joanne Pozzo* Rene Fechter & Cynthia Smith* Larry & Ro Fedorka* William & Claudia Fenderson Karen Ferguson* Irene & Edward Fick* Ben Ficks & Bob Angell

Allen Fred Fielding X Dorothy Filbert Jerry Filbin* Joe Filipek & Larry Richardson X* Mark S. Finkelstein & Michael Zeik X* Karen Finn X Rick Fischer X Barbara Fischetti & Janet Thoden* Dennis Fitch & J. Michael Kearns X Alyssa Fitzgerald Kathy Fitzgerald & Lisa Gourley Kathy Fitzgerald & Alicia Mickenberg Barbara Fitzpatrick & Denise Centinaro* Keven Fitzsimmons & Jeff Stroud X* Chuck Flanagan X Nan Flesher & In Memory of Joie Rake X* Jason Flick & Timothy Jancel Sandra Fluck & Bev Pasquarella* Karen Folger Mary Ford & Judy Hedrick X Hildy Forman & Marsha McLaurin X Tony Forrest & Glyn Edwards* Jodi Foster & Caroline Pellicano Joyce Foster & Maggie Bishop Beebe Frazer X* Phil Fretz X Neil Frock & Bob Harrison* Susanne Furman Frank Gainer & Ramon Santos* Cathy Gaiser Lynn Gaites & Faye Koslow X* Rosalie Galante Marcia Gallo & Ann Cammett* Toni Gallo X* Karen Gantz & Jeanie Geist* Kathryn Gantz & Kathryn Gehret* Marvin Garcia Alexis Gardner Cheri Garnet Dona Garofano & Janet Blaustein Eugene Garone & John Moore Ed Gasper Mindy Gasthalter* Wilson Gates X Charles George & Dennis Rivard X Gary Gillard X* Joan Glass X* Angela & Cheryl Glodowske* Karen Glooch X Jackie Goff & Mary Vogt X* Suzanne Goldstein & Dana Greenwald X Milton Gordon & Bill Hromnak X* Teresa Gordy & Barb Ford X Dan Goren & Peter Robinson X Anita Gossett & Ronnie Smith* Robert Gotwalt & Norman Jones* Bill Graff & Jeff Schuck* Lisa & Raymond Graff* Joe Greenhall & Tom Klingler Melissa & Betsy Gregory-Hosler Richard Grifasi X John Grillone & Paul Schlear, Jr. X* Joseph Gritz X Wendy Grooms & Barbara Fishel X* Carol Gross X* James Gross X Paula Grubbs X* Timothy Gualdoni X Helene Guilfoy X Renee Guillory & Melissa Vila-Guillory Lori Guitson X* Continued on page 72

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71 Letters

Continued from page 70 Bill Gunning & Joe Greoski X Linda Haake & Holly Schneider Laura I Hackell Cynthia Hall X Kerry Hallett & Millie Crotty Barbara Hals & Sharon Dyke X John Hardt Mark Hare & Mike Newman X Fred Harke & In Memory of Robert Rougeau X* Kelley Harp X Sue Claire Harper David Harrer & Floyd S. Kanagy* Mary Hartman & Laurie Nelson* Jeff Haslow X Janece Hausch* Mary Diane Hausman John & Mary Havrilla* John Hawkins & Silvia Ritchie* Daniel F.C. Hayes* Gail Hecky* Linda Heisner X* Michael & Cory Heller David Herchik X* Fred Hertrich X* Howard Hicks & Stephen Carey X Shelli & Barbara Hilbert Helen Hilderbrandt Jack Hills & Sal Belhacen X Barbara Hines & Nancy Froome X Howard C. Hines, MD X Karen & Mickey Hinman Janel Hino & Patricia Ann Scully X* David Hogue Connie Holdridge* Carol Holland - Holland Jewelers X* Robert Holloran & Ed Davis* Cindy Holmes Chris Holt & Emory Bevill X Mollyne Honor & Shelley Garfield* Larry Hooker X* George Hooper & Michael Davis* Elaine Horan & Debbie Sciallo X* Frank Hornstein & Mark Henckel X* James Hospital & Jack Fraker* Robert Hotes X* Bryan Houlette* Corey Houlihan & Karen Abato* Kaz Huston & Sylvia Daniels X Ellan Hylton* Batya Hyman & Belinda Cross* Grant Ingalls Thomas Ingold X Chris Israel & John Stassi X* Geoffrey Jackson X* Fay Jacobs & Bonnie Quesenberry X* Sharon Janis X* Allen Jarmon & Ward Ellinger X* Robert Jasinski* Mary Jenkins & Laura Reitman* Susan Jimenez & Cathy Benson X* Tamara Jobe & Teresa Figgs X Chip Johnson & In Memory of Joseph Lachac* Deb Johnson Derrick Johnson & Darryl Isom Donna A. Johnson* Richard Jolly & Charles Ingersoll X* Charles Jones Gay Jones & Barb Bartels* Glenn Jones X Sparky Jones* Tom Jones X* Mick Kaczorowski X*

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NOVEMBER 21, 2025

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75 Letters

OUTlook

BY BETH SHOCKLEY

A Quantum Thanksgiving

I

’m convinced that Thanksgiving dinner—or at least the cooking of the meal itself—is actually an example of quantum physics in action.

After all, what’s a quantum Thanksgiving without Schrödinger’s turkey? Until you actually open the oven door, do you know for certain if you have a beautifully roasted turkey or a cold, raw bird because you forgot to turn the oven on? Terrifying, right?

But here’s a confession: I’m 65 and barely know how to cook. I know enough to feed myself, (can you say ramen noodles?) but I’ve never been interested in cooking and my mother didn’t have the patience to teach me. Since I’ve never cooked a Thanksgiving meal from start to finish by myself, I wanted to find out, simply, how do you do it? Who better to ask than someone who’s done it (and more than once)? But more importantly, someone who enjoys it and is therefore good at it? Someone I would call a chef.

So I asked my wife, Sandy, whose explanation at first sounded like everything happens all at once, with each singular thing taken one step at a time. All of these pieces flow around one another in space and time until they’re organized into specific action steps, often occurring simultaneously. That’s intersectionality, sort of, but to me, it seems more uniquely quantum in nature.

Cooking Thanksgiving dinner, Sandy says, is a matter of breaking down tasks into doable chunks in the right order.

First, the turkey—will it be stuffed? In that case, many other steps need to occur first. Clearly a matter of “if/then,” another quantum echo. And if you’re having guests, well, the layers of complexity are much thicker and require much more planning. And each guest brings their own quantum processes (and a side dish or dessert if you’re lucky) and it’s enough to make Albert Einstein proud. Although he was never known as a gourmet cook, apparently preferring home-style meals his housekeeper made for him.

The turkey is just the “main event horizon” though. What about all those

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other accompaniments orbiting the table? Will there be mashed potatoes or macaroni and cheese? Why not both?

Will there be cranberry sauce and will it be jellied (my personal favorite) or rustic whole berry relish? Greens or Brussels sprouts? And what about the ubiquitous green bean casserole? So many choices, each with its own path in the timeline of dinner creation. I’m tired and stressed just thinking about it all.

“When things go wrong, those are the events that become the best stories… in a couple of years.”

So how do you get everything done to be able to serve it all at the same time? Sandy says planning is the key.

“You can do lots of prep the day before and there is plenty of time for just about everything else while the turkey is in the oven.” Easy for her to say. But she thinks in a quantum way. It’s one of the things I really love about her.

But what if something goes wrong?

I envision the entire kitchen exploding because the gravy is not ready for its boat in time. “Relax,” Sandy says. “When

things go wrong, those are the events that become the best stories…in a couple of years. You can always salvage something. No one will starve and the universe will carry on.” I think most Thanksgiving chefs, quantum or otherwise, would agree with that statement.

At this point I understand why my mother was hoping I would be successful enough to hire someone to cook for me, like old Albert Einstein did. Thank goodness Sandy enjoys cooking and does it out of love. I’ve even picked up a few tips, which is not surprising considering we’ve been together for 20 years.

Food is wonderful but it’s not the best part of the Thanksgiving holiday. The best part of a Thanksgiving meal is being with people that you care about. But if, for whatever reason, you don’t have people in your life, I’ve found it to be a wonderful experience to serve others at a soup kitchen. The point is to spend time with others. To be with the people you love. It’s breaking bread with family and friends.

It’s a great opportunity for joy, especially if you’re celebrating with chosen family and treasured friends. Experiencing joy is so important these days. It feels good and it’s a form of resistance to the current regime. What’s not to like?

Who doesn’t want more joy in this current world? I’ll take any chance to generate joy that I can get. So, from Sandy and me—we extend best wishes for holiday joy, even if you don’t have a quantum Thanksgiving meal. Pass the potatoes! ▼ Beth Shockley is a retired writer and editor; she shares life with her wife and kitty boys.

NOVEMBER 21, 2025

77 Letters

arts+entertainment

BY LOGAN FARRO

SPOTLIGHT ON THE

arts

CAMP Rehoboth Puts Art at the Heart of Our Community

Oil & Water

An Exhibition by Renata Price and Kathleen Fitzgerald December 3, 2025 - January 16, 2026 Opening Reception: December 6 2:00-4:00 p.m.

M

ake plans now to drop by CAMP Rehoboth in December to view Oil & Water, an exhibit featuring the work of two local artists, Renata Price and Kathleen Fitzgerald.

Price paints primarily in oil. Her work, inspired by a variety of sources, is very detail oriented and continues to evolve in style and subject matter while remaining true to realism.

Fitzgerald’s primary medium is watercolor, though she also enjoys drawing pen and ink illustrations and cartoons.

Fitzgerald finds inspiration in the beauty of nature all around her. ▼

CAMP Rehoboth Gallery typically is open Monday-Friday, 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.

Call ahead to confirm: 302-277-5620.

IMAGES (Top row): Heron in Flight by Renata Price (Bottom row, L-R): Among Flowers, and CAMP Rehoboth by Kathleen Fitzgerald.

This program is supported, in part, by a grant from the Delaware Division of the Arts, a state agency, in partnership with the National Endowment for the Arts. The Division promotes Delaware arts events on DelawareScene.com.

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NOVEMBER 21, 2025

arts+entertainment

BY MARY JO TARALLO

CAMP REHOBOTH ARTIST PROFILE ⊲ Richard Scalenghe

M

usic has long been Richard Scalenghe’s passion and one that he probably got from his grandmother who sang on the radio in New York City, “back in the day.” He says he always loved music and listened to jazz and Broadway records growing up. “I had attention deficit disorder as a youth and therefore was not a good student; music was the one thing in which I excelled,” he admitted. He says he loves all sorts of music.

Richard started playing clarinet in the fifth grade. He took classical guitar lessons at age 13 but then switched to jazz.

He played clarinet in his junior high concert band. During high school he played clarinet in the school’s orchestra, and guitar in the jazz band and theater productions. While in high school, he also played professionally with an accordion player-led band that did wedding gigs.

Classical guitar was his primary instrument in college but now his Gibson jazz guitar is his favorite.

Richard’s music passion had to take a back seat during his high-productivity working years, that started with an area of expertise that might not be readily known.

Richard earned a degree in music therapy from the University of Dayton in Ohio. The definition of music therapy is a bit of a mouthful. According to the American Music Therapy Association’s web site, it is the “clinical & evidence-based use of music interventions to accomplish individualized goals within a therapeutic relationship by a credentialed professional who has completed an approved music therapy program.”

For eight years, he worked with clients with developmental disabilities, behavioral health challenges, addictions, and the elderly. He was based in the Bronx, New York.

Another of Richard’s non-musical life experiences for 35 years was with an organization called the Joint Commission. It had little to do with marijuana but a lot to do with responsibility. The Joint Commission’s mission is to enable

and affirm the highest standards of healthcare quality and patient safety.

According to Richard, the Commission is “trusted by over 24,000 organizations globally to uphold standards that improve patient outcomes.”

Now retired, Richard is a Beebe Healthcare volunteer helping with survey preparation and quality improvement. He also has resumed his musical love affair, as evidenced by his collection of guitars and other musical instruments.

He currently plays clarinet in the Rehoboth Concert Band—but that is just one arrow in his musical quiver. He also was a guitarist in the pit band for the Milford Second Street Players’ sold-out production of Little Shop of Horrors, and he played bass guitar this past summer for the Clear Space productions of Rent and Beautiful, the Carol King Musical. “It’s a blast to play in the pit band with such great musicians,” he says. “It’s amazing how everything comes together with so few rehearsals. It’s important to be able to hear the actors so we can adapt to their approach and tempos. I never get tired of playing for the talented actors.”

He plays guitar and is back-up bass for both the Delmarva Big Band and the Smooth Sound Big Band, and he recently performed in the True-Blue Jazz Festival. The Delmarva Big Band is performing a holiday show at the

Milton Theater on Tuesday, December 23; Richard and the band will be playing Duke Ellington’s The Nutcracker Suite as well as other holiday tunes.

As part of his “give back” efforts, Richard’s role as past board president of Coastal Concerts has led him to his involvement with Expanding Horizons, an after-school music program. It is a collaboration between Coastal Concerts and the First State Community Action Agency and is dedicated to “enriching lives and cultivating musical appreciation for all students,” according to its website. The program focuses on schools in the communities of Coolspring, Slaughter Neck, and Burton Village. The program’s goal is not to turn every student into a musician, but to “awaken curiosity, appreciation, and joy in music.”

“My personal goal for music sessions at First State after-school programs is to give young people—especially those with limited access to music education—a chance to explore a variety of instruments and musical styles, while also introducing them to diverse musicians who reflect their own backgrounds and perform across genres.”

Richard and his husband Tom live in Lewes in a self-described “fixer upper,” a project they took on due to Tom’s family’s background in the building trades. Say Richard, “I had no idea what we were getting into! We (Tom…with me being the “go-fer”) did the demolition, plumbing, electrical, fine woodwork, tile, and flooring.”

It took three years, but the house is true to Lewes’s history and culture. It is adorned with classic period furniture, art from personal friends, and Richard’s nine guitars, two dulcimers, a mandolin, clarinets, and a banjo. ▼ Editor’s Note: This piece is the second in a planned series of profiles featuring CAMP Rehoboth members who are musicians, writers, actors, painters, sculptors, dancers—in short, artists. To suggest someone we might include, contact editor@camprehoboth.org.

NOVEMBER 21, 2025

79 Letters

arts+entertainment

BY JOE GFALLER

The Holiday Season Fills Coastal Stages with Joy

T

heater stages across coastal Delaware fill with holiday cheer in the weeks ahead, inviting our community to revisit cherished stories and build new joyful memories. It’s the perfect time of year to head indoors and warm up to a cozy yuletide story with friends and family, so check out some of these wonderful venues to make a date with some great music and theater before the year is over!

CLEAR SPACE THEATRE COMPANY

Edmund Bagnell of Well Strung

In downtown Rehoboth, Clear Space has three holiday offerings this year, starting the weekend before Thanksgiving with two shows of Edmund’s Holiday Spectacular! on November 22 at 2:00 p.m. and 7:00 p.m., featuring violinist and vocalist Edmund Bagnell of the string quartet Well Strung. Then, starting Thanksgiving weekend, Clear Space presents A Christmas Carol in a musical adaptation by Alan Menken and Lynn Ahrens.

The production sold out earlier this fall, but three performances were added on Sunday evenings. A few tickets may still be available Letters 80

NOVEMBER 21, 2025

for those performances. To close out the holidays, Clear Space welcomes the First State Symphonic Band for a concert on December 20 at 6:00 p.m., featuring a wide range of orchestral holiday favorites. Tickets at clearspacetheatre.org.

DICKENS PARLOUR THEATRE

In Ocean View, Dickens Parlour Theatre offers a range of holiday shows in December, all accompanied by their friendly dining experience at Flavor. December 5 and 6, experience a one-man version of A Christmas Carol and other holiday favorites featuring David Tyson. December 12 and 13, Maggie Griffin-Smith performs a holiday concert, “Christmas Is Here”, featuring a mix of holiday party classics and cherished sacred hymns.

Then, December 19, enjoy a murder mystery dinner theater experience, Murder: Take Two! Ho Ho Ho!, set against the backdrop of a 1940s Hollywood dinner party. Tickets at dickensparlourtheatre.com.

Maggie Griffin-Smith

MILTON THEATRE

Milton Theatre brings both a big family musical and a series of holiday concerts to the stage. Andrew Lloyd Weber’s Joseph and the

Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat opens November 20 and continues until December 14. In addition, Milton offers favorite Branden & James, alongside Post Modern Jukebox’s Effie Passero in a night of holiday music on November 30; Slay Belles, a holiday drag show featuring Magnolia Applebottom, Roxy Overbrooke, and Alondra Sanchez, on December 19; and Duke Ellington’s The Nutcracker Suite performed by Delmarva Big Band on December 23.

Tickets at miltontheatre.com.

Delmarva Big Band

POSSUM POINT PLAYERS

In Georgetown, Possum Point Players will give audiences the opportunity to relive the hilarious holiday classic, The Best Christmas Pageant Ever. Based on the bestselling young adult book that was made into a popular holiday movie last year, a couple struggling to put together their church’s Christmas pageant is left with no choice but to cast a family of deeply (and comically) troublesome children in the leading roles.

Holiday mayhem ensues.

Performances run December 5-14. In addition, Possum Point Player’s Radio Theater travels to the Community Players Theater in Salisbury, Maryland, to present Turkey and Football: A Thanksgiving

Celebration on November 23 at 2:00 p.m. Tickets at possumpointplayers.org.

SECOND STREET PLAYERS

Second Street in Milford presents A Coney Island Christmas by Pulitzer Prize winner Donald Margulies November 28-December 7.

In a touching memory play adapted from Grace Paley’s short story “The Loudest Voice,” the story unfolds over one holiday season among an immigrant community in the 1930s, when young Shirley Abramowitz is cast as Jesus in her school’s Christmas pageant—a decision that upends her otherwise decidedly Jewish Brooklyn holiday season. Tickets at secondstreetplayers.com. ▼ Logan Farro is CAMP Rehoboth’s Visual Arts Coordinator. They may be reached at logan@camprehoboth.org.

Mary Jo Tarallo is a former journalist and public relations professional for various nonprofits including a ski industry trade association. She won a Gold Award for a United Way TV program starring Oprah Winfrey.

Joe Gfaller is Managing Director of Clear Space Theatre Company.

BY TERRI SCHLICHENMEYER

arts+entertainment

BOOKED SOLID Bog Queen by Anna North* © 2025, Bloomsbury, $28.99, 288 pages Consider: lost and found.

The first one is miserable—whatever you need or want is gone, maybe for good. The second one can be joyful, a celebration of great relief, and a reminder to look in the same spot next time you need that which you first lost. Loss hurts. But as in the new novel, Bog Queen by Anna North, discovery isn’t always without pain.

He’d always stuck to the story.

In 1961, or so he claimed, Isabel Navarro argued with her husband, as they had many times. At one point, she stalked out. Done. Gone, but there was always doubt—and now it seemed he’d been lying for decades: When peat cutters discovered the body of a young woman near his home in northwest England, Navarro finally admitted that he’d killed Isabel and dumped her corpse into a bog.

Officials prepared to charge him.

But again, that doubt. The body, as forensic anthropologist Agnes Lundstrom discovered rather quickly, was not that of Isabel. This bog woman had nearly-healed wounds and her head showed old skull fractures. Her skin glowed yellow from decaying moss that her body had steeped in. No, the corpse in the bog was not from a half-century ago.

She was roughly two thousand years old.

But who was the woman from the bog? Knowing more about her would’ve been a nice distraction for Agnes; she’d left America to move to England, left her father and a man

she might’ve loved once, with the hope that her life could be different. She disliked solitude but she felt awkward around people, including the environmental activists, politicians, and others surrounding the discovery of the Iron Age corpse.

Was the woman beloved? Agnes could tell that she’d obviously been well cared for, and relatively healthy despite the injuries she’d sustained. If there were any artifacts left in the bog, Agnes would have the answers she wanted. If only Isabel’s family, the activists, and authorities could come together and grant her more time.…

Fortunately, that’s what you get inside Bog Queen: time, spanning from the Iron Age and the story of a young, inexperienced druid who’s hoping to forge ties with a southern kingdom; to 2018, the year in which the modern portion of this book is set.

Yes, you get both.

Yes, you’ll devour them.

Taking parts of a true story, author Anna North spins a wonderful tale of druids, vengeful warriors, scheming kings, and a scientist who’s as much of a genius as she is a nerd.

The tale of the two women swings back and forth between chapters and eras, mixed with female strength and twenty-first century concerns. Even better, these perfectly mixed parts are occasionally joined by a third entity that adds a delicious note of darkness, as if whatever happens can be erased in a moment.

Nah, don’t even think about resisting.

If you’re a fan of feminist fiction, science, or novels featuring kings, druids, and Celtic history, don’t wait. Bog Queen is your book. Look. You’ll be glad you found it. ▼ *Anna North’s The Life and Death of Sophie Stark won the 2016 Lambda Literary Award for Bisexual Fiction.

NOVEMBER 21, 2025

81 Letters

Visiting View

BY ROBERT DEDOMINIC

Remember, Remember The FOURTH of November!

G

reetings Letters readers, Robby from Brooklyn here, writing to you from a jubilant New York in the days after Election Night 2025! The excitement, the energy, and the cheers heard as 34-year-old Assemblyman Zohran Mamdani was elected as the new Mayor were electric. Mamdani’s campaign has been rejuvenating the city these past months as he mobilized over 100,000 volunteers—many of them under the age of 30—“who have carried the message of building a more affordable city directly to the homes of more than a million voters in the most populous city in the United States,” reports english. elpaise.com.

On this Election Day, November 4, 2025, are we finally seeing the tide begin to turn against Donald Trump and the Republican Party? The answer to that is a loud, booming, resounding “yes!”

On a day that began with the naming of beloved queer icon Johnathan Bailey as People Magazine’s Sexiest Man Alive, the stars felt aligned for some Democratic wins. But the Democrats did not just get some wins. There was not a blue wave on November 4—there was a blue tsunami.

Democrats won race after race after race.

Over two million people voted in NYC—the most since 1969—and over one million of them voted for Mamdani.

In New Jersey, Mikie Sherrill was elected Governor, defeating Jack Ciattarelli by 13 points. In Virginia, Abagail Spanberger was elected Governor, defeating Republican Winsome Earle-Sears by 15 points.

Spanberger will be the first female Governor ever in Virginia, and in 2025, a record 13 Governors will be women. Additionally, in Virginia, both the Lieutenant Governor and Attorney General flipped seats from red to blue by 15 points.

In a major win for California Governor Gavin Newsom, voters in that state overwhelmingly approved Proposition 50, “a measure that allowed the state to redraw its congressional map in favor of Democrats, pushing back against President

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Trump’s effort to hold onto a Republican-controlled Congress by urging redistricting in Texas,” reports calmatters.org.

Democrats won the Pennsylvania Supreme Court and flipped two Georgia statewide seats by 20 points. Dems weren’t predicted to win in Mississippi— but they did. They broke the supermajor-

There was not a blue wave on November 4—there was a blue tsunami. ity in the Mississippi state legislature and flipped a seat in Texas.

And my personal favorite—the hateful, bigoted, homophobic, Moms for Liberty (M4L) candidates lost 31 out of 31 contested races nationwide. No M4L candidate won a single contested seat anywhere in the United States. Moms for Liberty is now 0-59 in contested school board races since 2023.

Lastly, also giving me great personal pleasure, JD Vance’s half-brother Cory Bowman got demolished in the race for Cincinnati mayor, losing by more than 70 percentage points.

Every single candidate that the convicted felon occupying the White House endorsed lost.

We are in the midst of the longest gov-

ernment shutdown in the history of the United States—38 days as of press time.

This beats the old record for a government shutdown—35 days in 2018, under the Trump Administration. I am sensing a pattern here.

Who would have guessed that gutting the federal government, firing thousands and thousands of federal workers, giving a $40 billion dollar bailout to Argentina while our own farmers are facing bankruptcy, would cause people to switch party alliance? Who would have guessed that having masked ICE agents abduct American citizens off the street would cause mass uproar?

All of this is happening as Speaker of the House Mike Johnson is refusing to bring House Republicans back to Washington, DC, to do their jobs. House Republicans have had six weeks of paid vacation while millions lose their SNAP benefits and our military goes unpaid for over a month. Johnson is refusing to swear in newly-elected Arizona Representative Adelita Grijalva, most likely because she will be the 218th vote needed to force a vote on the floor to release the Epstein Files.

Sunny Hostin, the daily MVP of The View, has been saying for months that the Democratic party needs to be the party of opposition. Mamdani seems poised to be the leader we need, proclaiming NYC “will be the light in a moment of political darkness. Together, we will usher in a new generation of change. So hear me President Trump when I say this: to get through one of us you will have to get through all of us!”

The tide has finally turned. The shaky house of cards is about to fall. Remember, remember the FOURTH of November. ▼ Robert DeDominic is a queer freelance writer living in Brooklyn, NY. Follow Robert on Bluesky at robertdominic.bsky.social.

Photo of Zohran Mamdani: Dmitryshein - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=166970377

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NOVEMBER 21, 2025

83 Letters

The Future Belongs to Whom ACROSS 1 Steve’s partner 5 “I’m ___ wash that man right outta my hair” 10 Pirate’s treasure 14 ___-sex marriage 15 Kidman’s award for The Hours 16 Photographer Catherine 17 Start of the answer to the title, per Eleanor Roosevelt 20 Acid neutralizer 21 Bronzed from the beach 22 Go downhill 26 More of the answer 30 It’s the reel thing 32 Long in the field of acting 33 Works by Sapho 36 Judy Garland, to many gays 37 Events for George Frenn 39 Pansy supporter 40 Journalist Hickok who was a friend of Eleanor 42 Like a bear 44 Pro-prohibition 45 Stalling sounds 47 Alec’s Star Wars character 48 Boy in a Johnny Cash song 49 Require as part of the agreement 52 End of the answer 56 Personal lubricant ingredient 57 Cock-and-bull story 58 The Oscars, e.g.

60 Verlaine’s mother

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Solution on Page 100 61 Queen topper 62 Iago, notably 63 Like sharp cheese 64 Member of a Dumas threesome 65 Desire Under the ___ DOWN 1 Hollywood canine 2 Oompa Loompa creator 3 Nuts 4 High flat area 5 Become a steady of 6 Prefix in a kids’ clothing line 7 Gomer’s Sgt. Carter, for one 8 Snatch 9 “Queen of Soul” Franklin 10 Enter 11 Like an unbuttoned blouse 12 Vidal’s ___ from Golgotha 13 A Scout may do a good one 18 Tickle pink 19 Rim job?

23 Auberjonois of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine 24 Off-Broadway prize 25 Vegetable fuel 26 Maurice director James 27 Queen Cleo’s river 28 Pleasure oneself, with “off” 29 Hairy Himalayans 30 Salsa rating 31 Locker room emanation

34 Cafeteria list 35 Nemesis of Tinkerbell 37 City near Atlanta 38 Locales within a locale 41 Amsterdam’s land (abbr.)

43 Circumcision, for one 46 Blithe ___ (Coward play) 47 Experienced hand 49 It goes under a jockey’s shorts 50 Heep of fiction 51 Remarkable hole 52 Jackie’s designer 53 Spencer-Devlin’s “Look out!”

54 Chains around a knight 55 It may be grand, to Glenn Burke 56 Physicians’ org.

59 Start of MGM’s motto

NOVEMBER 21, 2025

85 Letters

Harbingers of Autumn

BY RUSSELL STILES

A Drift of Snow (Geese)

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tanding in my garden the first autumn that I moved from the mountains of central Pennsylvania to Rehoboth Beach, it was the sound that overwhelmed me first. Staccato notes, coming closer and closer overhead, a natural symphony, then darkened skies. I began to understand the Delmarva seasons, the nor’easters, the undertows, the amazing sights of whales and dolphins, life on the edge of the sea.

When the snow geese arrive, they bring a change to our world, a promise that life continues. Regardless of the conflicts of a troubled society, the snow geese return each year. I drive by a field that usually is green or brown and a miracle has occurred: Snow covers every

inch—a different snow from my past—a snow of moving, sounding, hopeful life that has flown a thousand miles to overwinter in our fields.

I come out in the evening to watch the white traffic flow across our sky, thousands moving in a choreographed

dance of flight moving from fields to marshland. I sometimes lose my faith in the future of our land and our society.

But then the snow geese return, and I think that love and compassion will return again just like the sky filled with moving snow. ▼

Snow geese, also known as Chen caerulescens, migrate to Delaware’s wildlife refuges each winter, starting in November. They are on the run from the brutal Arctic winter, spending their summer mating season way up north and then flying south to a more hospitable climate when the days start to get shorter. Delaware’s wildlife refuges, such as Bombay Hook National Wildlife Refuge and Prime Hook National Wildlife Refuge, are known for hosting hundreds of thousands of these majestic birds. Their migration is one of the world’s most impressive animal traditions, offering bird watchers a spectacular view of these beautiful birds in huge flocks. — Kim Magaraci, 2022, onlyinyourstate.com/nature/delaware

spotlight MARIA SCANNAPIECO VOLUNTEER

CAMP REHOBOTH: When did you start MARIA SCANNAPIECO: We moved here

MS: “Sweet Caroline,” by Neil Diamond.

This is my family’s (one of 10 children; aunt to 26) anthem that we sing every year during our family reunion at the beach, weddings, significant birthdays, and other family events.

CR: What’s your best memory of volun-

CR: Favorite US city and why?

volunteering at CAMP Rehoboth?

in early-March of 2025, and I began volunteering at CAMP Rehoboth in early-summer 2025.

teering here?

MS: I mostly volunteer as a CAMPcierge.

My most valued moments are when I witness the CAMP Rehoboth staff interact with the community in such an empathetic, caring, and respectful manner.

CR: What song always puts you in a

good mood?

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MS: Fort Worth, Texas. First city where I lived with my wife of 20 years, and our first kitty, Marcie. We loved the adventures we experienced living there and the people we met.

CR: What are you most thankful for?

MS: My family (kitty ones as well), friends, and health.▼

BY SOPHIE WAGNER

NOVEMBER 21, 2025

87 Letters

SCENES FROM REHOBOTH BEACH

(Continued from page 63) THIS PAGE (left to right) 1) at Sea Witch® Costume Parade: Michael Beigay, Meryl Migdel, Laurie Kuebler, Hope Vella, Vincent DeLissio, Amelia Riley, Matt Castrina, Chad Stover, Jamal Williams, Charlie Jones, Joe Gfaller, Paul Weiss, Tom Newton, Tim Murray, Joe Matassino, John Hackett, Ken Geissler, Tom Hoy, Rita Fry, Elliot Hoy, Ivy Kepner, Lorne Crawford, Taylor Weidenbach.

OPPOSITE PAGE 2) at Sea Witch® Costume Parade: Mary Hoban, Kim Leisey, Kathy Solano, Michael Yousko, Alex Petrino, Judy Stout, Gail Purcell, Sandy Kraft, Tony Burns, RB Commissioner Patrick Gossett, Shay Port, Wendy Eaby, JoAnn Baldridge, Paul Haid, Rich Norcross, Adam Updegraff; 3) Dewey Goes Pink: Theresa Ann Crivelli, Angela Murray, Sherri Richman, Jody Keegan, Barb Valletto, Dawna Lund, Sarah Ferguson, Ritchie Francis, Mikki Synder-Hall, DE State Rep Claire Snyder-Hall, Jennifer Rubennstein, Diane Scobey.

(More CAMPshots page 90) Letters 88

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89 Letters

SCENES FROM REHOBOTH BEACH

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2 (Continued from page 89) THIS PAGE (left to right) 1) at Mr. Rehoboth Leather at Aqua: Vince Gambal, Garrett Taggart, JT Threlkeld, Adam Gold, Drake Wolf, Willy Gestole, Frank Iannucci, JD Beam, Christopher Glauser, Jeff Donovan, Matt Hocking, Al Petticrew, Mark Teesdale, Chad Stover, Mark Kehoe; 2) at RB Museum Annual Beach Ball: George Chambers, Ramona Zoccola, Samantha Viksnins, Heidi Nasstrom Evans, Bob Suppies, RB Mayor Stan Mills, Corey Andrew, Joseph Bennett.

OPPOSITE PAGE 3) at Into Light Art Reception at CAMP Rehoboth: Devin Canfield, Camille Harris, Afesha Pierre, Paula Perez, Teressa Smith, Janie Donato; 4) at ACLU Leadership Night: Emerson Sheldon, Tara Sheldon, Mike Brickner, Dwayne Bensing; 5) at Blue Wave Gala: Joe Sterner, Terry Kistler, Dave Brenton, DE State Senator Russ Huxtable, Dick Byrne, Kylee Mangrello, Andrew Mark, DE State Rep Alonna Berry, DE State Auditor Lydia York; 6) at Alzheimer’s Walk at Grove Park: Marlyn Martens, Harry Martens, Matt Castrina, Kevin Pelland.

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91 Letters

Deep Inside Hollywood

BY ROMEO SAN VICENTE

Red, White & Royal Blue Invites You to a Wedding

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ever underestimate audience desire for good-looking rich people falling in love; it’s a tradition as old as movies. And it’s almost certainly one reason for the success of the 2023 Amazon movie Red, White & Royal Blue. Based on the novel of the same name by Casey McQuiston, about a gay prince and his handsome non-aristocratic suitor, it became a queer rom-com sensation. And now there’s a sequel in the works, Red,

White & Royal Wedding. Amazon MGM has Emmy-nominated director Jamie Babbit (But I’m a Cheerleader) on board, as well as original stars Nicholas Galitzine and Taylor Zakhar Perez (and, presumably, the rest of the first film’s cast). Plot details are currently under wraps, but with that title you sort of already know what happens. And no one’s asking you to save the date yet, either. That’s a secret, too. ▼

John Early’s Got a Secret

Q Beatles Films Cast Their Gay Manager: James Norton

J

ames Norton is a British actor known for being on TV shows like Masterpiece’s Grantchester, and Netflix’s House of Guinness. He was also in Greta Gerwig’s Little Women. His sex symbol status is solid among fans, but now his biggest profile role to date is set: Brian Epstein. That’s a name you might not know, but he was the manager of the Beatles, he was gay, and he was a driving force behind their early success, and sometimes referred to as the “Fifth Beatle,” which means his presence across all four upcoming Beatles biopics from Skyfall director Sam Mendes will be significant. The four films in question will be referred to, for now, as The Beatles—A Four-Film Cinematic Event and star Paul Mescal (Paul), Harris Dickinson (John), Barry Keoghan (Ringo), and Stranger Things actor Joseph Quinn (George). The four-movie multiplex-busting project is set to arrive in 2028—these things take time, after all—so newcomers to all things Beatle can content themselves by watching A Hard Day’s Night and Yellow Submarine over the next 36 months while you wait to meet The Fab Fifth.▼

Romeo San Vicente: never a drag, always a queen.

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ueer comic actor John Early has directed his first movie after being everywhere at once on TV and in film, most notably as one of the stars of Search Party. His debut feature film is Maddie’s Secret, and it won great acclaim at the Toronto International Film Festival last month.

The plot involves a young woman named Maddie—played by Early—who works as an internet food content creator and who also has a husband and an eating disorder she’s trying to keep secret. Word is that the comedy also works within the retro TV movie social issue genre, which is intriguing—Kristen Wiig and Will Farrell did something similar in 2015’s A Deadly Adoption—and the supporting cast, including Vanessa Bayer, Kristen Johnston, and queer comic Kate Berlant makes this one something we’re eager to see. Indie distributor Magnolia Pictures has picked it up for release in 2026, so we’ll be there supporting our local arthouse theater. ▼

Emmy-winner Jeff Hiller is Lost & Found in Cleveland

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ovember is when most of the Christmas-themed films arrive in theaters and this year the indie comedy Lost & Found in Cleveland is ready to make merry. Set over a 24-hour period in the midwestern city during the holidays, as an Antiques Roadshow-style TV show comes to town, the film follows a group of people whose lives intersect over the course of that day. And the cast is stacked: queer favorites like Glee veteran Dot-Marie Jones, Jeff Hiller (Emmy winner for Somebody Some-

where), as well as Dennis Haysbert, Martin Sheen, Loretta Devine, June Squib, Stacy Keach, Gilmore Girls alum Liza Weil, and Mark L. Walberg (who appears as the antiques show host named, appropriately enough, “Tom L. Hanks.”) With more and more holiday films relegated to streaming services—everybody wants to compete with Hallmark—it’s good to know there are still movies that aim for a cozy cinema experience. It hit theaters on November 7, so wear a festive sweater. ▼

BEAR

S

SPR SPREAD HOLIDAY CHEER & MAKE E A DIFFERENCE IN OUR COMMUNITY D Y DONATE NEW/UNUSED TOYS DONATIONS WILL BE DISTRIBUTED TO LOCAL BENEFICIARIES

DROP OFF LOCATIONS & EVENTS FRIDAY DECEMBER 5, - FURST FRIDAY (5PM-7PM) DIEGO'S FRIDAY DECEMBER 5, - HOT SANTA DANCE (9PM - CLOSE) DIEGO'S SUNDAY DECEMBER 7, YESTERDAY’S FUN (11AM-2PM) MEET SANTA! SATURDAY DECEMBER 13, DINNER WITH SANTA & THE BEARS(5PM-8PM) ABOVE THE DUNES

PLUS DAILY DROP OFF LOCATIONS: CAMP REHOBOTH YESTERDAY’S FUN FREDDIE’S BEACH BAR AUTO GALLERY LEWES, DE. RIGBY’S BAR & GRILL DIEGO’S BAR & NIGHTCLUB REHOBOTH BEACH MAIN STREET

REHOBOTHBEACHBEARS.COM BOTH CAMP REHOBOTH AND THE REHOBOTH BEACH BEARS ARE 501(C)3 DE. CORPORATION DEDICATED TO BETTER THE HE CO COMMUNITY.

NOVEMBER 21, 2025

93 Letters

Book’em!

BY TERRI SCHLICHENMEYER

Best of All: So Easy to Wrap

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anta will be very relieved.

You’ve taken most of the burden off him by making a list and checking it twice on his behalf. The gift-buying in your house is almost done—except for those few people who are just so darn hard to buy for. So what do you give to the person who has (almost) everything? You give them a good book, like maybe one of these….

LGBTQ FICTION

For the mystery lover who wants something different, try Crime Ink: Iconic, edited

by John Copenhaver and Salem West (Bywater Books), a collection of short stories inspired by “queer legends” and allies you know. Psychological thrillers, creepy crime, cozies, they’re here.

Novel lovers will want to curl up this winter with Middle Spoon by Alejandro Varela (Viking), a book about a man who appears to have it all, until his heart is broken and the fix for it is one he doesn’t quite understand and neither does anyone he loves.

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LGBTQ STUDIES— NONFICTION

For the young man who’s struggling with issues of gender, Before They Were Men by Jacob Tobia (Harmony Books) might be a good gift this year. These essays on manhood in today’s world work to widen our conversations on the role politics and feminism play in understanding masculinity and how it’s time we open our minds.

If there’s someone on your gift list who had a tough growing-up (didn’t we all?), then wrap up I’m Prancing as Fast as I Can by Jon Kinnally (Permuted Press/Simon & Schuster). Kinally was once an awkward kid but he grew up to be a writer for TV shows you’ll recognize. You can’t go wrong gifting a story like that. Better idea: wrap it up with So Gay for You: Friendship, Found Family, & The Show That Started It All

by Leisha Hailey & Kate Moennig (St. Martin’s Press), a book about a little TV show that launched a BFF-ship.

Who doesn’t have a giftee who loves music? You sure do, so wrap up The Secret

Public: How Music Moved Queer Culture from the Margins to the Mainstream

by Jon Savage (Liveright).

Role of Phosphorus – in Our Cells, in Our Food, and in Our World by Jack Lohmann (Pantheon) is absolutely the book to give this year. It’s all about a chemical element that surrounds us, but that your giftee likely never thinks about. They will, after reading this great book.

SELF-HELP

Nobody has to tell your giftee that queer folk left their mark on music, but they’ll love reading the stories in this book and knowing what they didn’t know.

Is there someone on your list who’s experienced a lot of change this year? Then wrap up Resurface: A Guide to Navigating Life’s Biggest Transitions by Cassidy Krug (Penguin Life). We all go through challenges in life, and Krug—a former Olympic diver—has had her share.

This book is easy to read, filled with advice and help, and your giftee will thank you for it. Wrap it up with

HEALTH

The caregiver (or potential caregiver) on your gift list will appreciate finding Generation Care: The New Culture of Caregiving by Jennifer N. Levin (Balance) beneath the tree this year. It’s a book full of advice, but there’s also lots of coping information here, and support for the difficult journey. Wrap it up with The Good Death: A Guide for Supporting Your Loved One Through the End of Life by Suzanne B. O’Brien, RN (Little, Brown Spark). O’Brien is the founder of the Doulagivers Institute and she has plenty of help to offer.

If your giftee is really into knowing fun things about the world inside their bodies, then White Light: The Elemental

The Fear Knot: How Science, History, and Culture Shape Our Fears—And How to Get Unstuck by Natasha Swalve, PhD and Ruth DeFoster, PhD (Prometheus Books) and give your giftee that extra push they need, personally.

The deep thinker on your list will want to unwrap

… what do you give to the person who has (almost) everything?

You give them a good book, like maybe one of these …

Thinking Ethically: A Handbook for Making Moral Choices by Scott Gelfand, PhD, JD (Visible Ink Press).

How does one live a moral, kind, giving life in today’s world? This book offers discussions, ideas, advice, and lots of sidebars to dig into and to ponder. Wrap it up with The Book of Possibilities: Words of Wisdom on the Road to Becoming by Bee Quammie (Penguin), a inspirational collection of helpful essays.

For the person on your list who’s looking for love, The Trouble with Fairy Tales: A Memoir by Plum Johnson (Viking) will be a welcome gift. It’s the story of happily-ever-after and happily-never-after and everything in between. This book is THE gift for Johnson’s fans and it’ll make a bunch of new ones so go ahead, wrap away!

DEATH & DYING

For the person who’s been thinking about the inevitable, What Matters Most: Lessons the Dying Teach Us about Living by Diane Button (The Open Field) might

be a welcome gift. This is a thoughtful book, filled with discussion-worthy points and paragraphs that will stick with your giftee forever. Wrap it up with A Beginner’s Guide to Dying by Simon Boas (Vintage), a book about life, death, and what matters.

Okay, maybe this isn’t the time of year you want to think about this subject, but if you know someone on your list has death top-of-mind, give Better: A Memoir about Wanting to Die by Arianna Rebolini (Harper). Even when life was supposed to be great, Rebolini harbored a “dark desire” that curled around the edges of her existence. This book about suicide and its prevention could be a must-read for the right person, so give carefully.

For the giftee on your list who’s working hard to put their life back together now, wrap up Renegade Grief: A Guide to the Wild Ride of Life after Loss by Carla Fernandez (Simon & Schuster), a book that goes beyond the old “time heals” common advice. Wrap it up with The Grieving Body: How the Stress of Loss Can be an Opportunity for Healing by Mary-Frances O’Connor, PhD (HarperOne), for a well-rounded, well-person kind of gift.

drama. Pair it with Dog Affirmations by Andrea Caceres (Bloomsbury), a fun little book written by your dog.

If there’s someone on your

list who loves learning about wildlife, then wrap up Doctors

by Nature: How Ants, Apes & Other Animals Heal Themselves by Jaap De Roode (Princeton University Press).

Dogs eat grass. Apes swallow leaves to cure what ails them.

This is not a health book for humans, but what’s inside here is fascinating. Pair it up with The Ocean’s Menagerie: How Earth’s Strangest Creatures Reshape the Rules of Life by Drew Harvell (Viking), a book by a marine biologist about the things you rarely see under the sea.

Enjoy your holidays, and Season’s Readings! ▼

PETS AND ANIMALS

The pet lover on your list will sit up and beg for Heal the Beasts: A Jaunt Through the Curious History of the Veterinary Arts by Philipp Schott, DVM (ECW Press). Filled with pets and other critters, it’s a look at the folks who made sure Fido and Fluffy stayed healthy through the ages, but with a twist of imagination and NOVEMBER 21, 2025

95 Letters

SCENES FROM REHOBOTH BEACH

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(Continued from page 91) THIS PAGE (left to right) 1) at Pride Film Fest at Cinema Art Theater: Lori Rocheleau, Renee Rocheleau, Sandy Kraft, Gail Purcell, Jefferson Rougeau, Steven Creps, Paul Frene; 2) at CAMP Rehoboth Dine and Donate at Dogfish Head: Fran Grote, Pat Catanzariti, Rich Grote; 3) at RB Jazz Festival: Steve Washington, Scott Shaughnessy, Eva DuPont, Bridget Russell, John Russell, Peggy Raley-Ward, Dean Haemel, Van Williamson, Eddie Eaton; 4) at Theo’s: Jeanette Shimkus, Trinu Shimkus, John James, Rolando Rivas-Camp; 5) at Purple Parrot: Eric Engelhart, Jeff Enck, Ryan Bos, Danny Haile, Chris Beagle.

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OPPOSITE PAGE 6) at Freddies Beach Bar: Johnny Cervantes, Freddie Lutz, Magnolia Applebottom, Alberth Silva; 7) at Boo Bear 2025 at Above the Dunes: Mark Lenard, Michael White, Timothy Ferguson, Jeff Coover, Monty Melhem, Herold Hannah, Glenn West; 8) at Aqua: Dan Kindle, Rich Norcross, Kim Snyder, Kevin Kay, Diane Schiazza, Ryan Leichtweisy, Jeffrey Brydzinsky, Tyler Prete, Jacob Budin, Scott Silber, Al Drulis; 9) at Blue Moon: Scott Wealand, Filip Gorevki, Charles Esham, Roxy Overbrooke; at Diego’s: Jake Glassman, Michael Cohen, Charlie Brown, Rod Cook, Cliff Lassahan, Pamala Stanley. ▼

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We Remember

Brenda Carroll Abell

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s was her wish, Brenda Carroll Abell passed away at home, held in the loving affection of her friends, family, and neighbors, right to the end of her days.

Brenda will be remembered as a thoughtful and generous friend, a quietly loving family member, and a foster and companion to many, many adopted dogs. She was a passionate animal lover and a lifelong supporter of animal rights organizations. Brenda treasured her time gardening, creating new landscape designs each year. She loved the beach and everything one could enjoy there, fishing, snorkeling, boating, and sailing.

Brenda was always drawn to adventure and would jump at the chance to follow turbulent weather, explore the Galápagos Islands, charter a catamaran in the Virgin Islands, fly in an antique biplane, or sail the Chesapeake in a vintage catboat.

Brenda loved to entertain. She was known for her quick, sharp sense of humor, her love of good food and music, and a certain charisma that made time with her compelling. And

while she enjoyed food that made others cringe, she served meals that they savored, sometimes at lavish parties with live performers.

An avowed Luddite, Brenda was always dismayed to be interrupted by someone’s visible or audible mobile device. She reminded her friends and loved ones to live in the moment and enjoy time together without electronic distractions.

Brenda was born in Baltimore, Maryland, daughter of Francis L. Abell and Mary Smith Abell. She was predeceased by her parents; her sister, Jane Ritmiller; and her partner of 30 years, Nancy Kettell.

Brenda is survived by six nieces and nephews. She also leaves behind her devoted dog, Tippi, and heartbroken friends too numerous to list.

Funeral services will be private.

Visit Brenda’s Life Memorial webpage at parsellfuneralhomes.com. ▼

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NOVEMBER 21, 2025 Letters 12/6/249912:44 PM

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CROSSWORD PUZZLE SOLUTION (puzzle on page 84)

“WHERE FLOWERS SPEAK A BEAUTIFUL LANGUAGE” FLORIST SHOP • GREENHOUSES 20326 Coastal Highway • Rehoboth Beach, DE (Next to Arena’s Café)

302-227-9481

Letters 100

NOVEMBER 21, 2025

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CAMP Rehoboth Volunteer Opportunities LOVE PICKLEBALL? WOMEN’S+ FEST NEEDS YOU!

Don’t miss a thing.

11 issues of LETTERS from CAMP Rehoboth by first class mail.

The Women’s+ FEST Pickleball Tournament needs YOU! We’re looking for fun, energetic volunteers to help on Thursday, April 9 from 7:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. We need scorers, a timer, check-in helpers, and especially two people to coordinate the event. Don’t worry, we’ve got all the signage and registration covered—just bring your energy to help make this event a smash! Please reach out to Sophie Wagner at swagner@camprehoboth.org or 302-227-5620 if interested.

LOVE ORGANIZING EVENTS? WOMEN’S+ FEST NEEDS YOU! The Women’s+ FEST Expo needs a volunteer lead! We’re looking for someone organized, friendly, and ready to help showcase all the amazing vendors and community partners that make FEST shine. The Expo takes place on Saturday, April 11, and you’ll help coordinate the planning of the event, check-in vendors, and ensure the day runs smoothly (with plenty of support from the CAMP Rehoboth team!).

YOUR NAME

PARTNER’S NAME ( IF APPLICABLE)

CROP: CAMP REHOBOTH OUTREACH PROGRAM The CAMP Rehoboth Outreach Program (CROP) is constantly working to cultivate community and strengthen relationships and the connections between us all.

Check the site for monthly volunteer opportunities.

STREET MAILING ADDRESS

CITY, STATE, ZIP

Sign up at camprehoboth.org/volunteers.

☐ YES ☐ NO PHONE

IS THIS A RENEWAL?

Your volunteer efforts benefit you and others.

Please visit camprehoboth.org/volunteers to register as a volunteer and to sign up for available opportunities.

Send your check for $50 to CAMP Rehoboth, 37 Baltimore Ave., Rehoboth Beach, DE 19971. If you prefer to use your Visa, MasterCard or American Express call 302-227-5620.

THANK YOU ALZHEIMER’S WALK 2025 Kevin Pelland

BARK ON THE BOARDS George Munson Linda Szabo CAMP REHOBOTH ACCESSIBILITY Hope Vella CAMP REHOBOTH ADMIN Sherri McGee CAMP REHOBOTH ADVOCACY COMMITTEE Daniel Bruner David Garrett Leslie Ledogar CAMP REHOBOTH ART RECEPTION ASSISTANT: INTO LIGHT Pamela Rule

CAMP REHOBOTH ARTS TEAM Logan Farro Jane Knaus Lois Powell Leslie Sinclair Patricia Stiles Debbie Woods

Amanda Mahony Albanese

CAMP REHOBOTH CHORUS LEADERSHIP COMMITTEE Bill Fuchs Karen Gantz Sue Pound Gloria Richards Dave Scuccimarra Travis Stevens Rose Verona

CAMP REHOBOTH VOLUNTEER DEVELOPMENT COMMITTEE Madelyn Jablon Marce McCollumMartin Jim Mease Kim Nelson Rina Pellegrini John Michael Sophos Joe Vescio

CAMP REHOBOTH DEVELOPMENT TEAM Jane Blue Pat Catanzariti Wes Combs Mike DeFlavia Will Freshwater

CAMP REHOBOTH FACILITIES Carol Brice Lisa Evans Eric Korpon

CAMPCIERGES Joe Benshetler Ken Currier Max Dick Peter Keeble Robert Howley Jim Mease

Jean Metzar Kim Nelson Pamela Rule Maria Scannapieco Patricia Stiles Linda Tiano Joe Vescio CAMPSAFE HIV TESTING AND COUNSELING Dick Hospital E.J. Kenyon Joe Vescio CAMPSHOTS PHOTO VOLUNTEERS G Michael Beigay Tony Burns

CROP SUPPORTS THE FOOD BANK OF DE Deb Carroll Karen DeSantis Mark Eubanks Lee Lachmund Jim Mease

To all the CAMP Rehoboth Volunteers for the period: Oct. 3 - Nov. 7, 2025 Beverly Miller Amine Raif Doug Sellers Joe Vescio LETTERS DISTRIBUTION TEAM Jim Mease LETTERS MAILING TEAM Nancy Hewish Joanne Yurik LETTERS PROOFING Barb Ralph PRIDE FILM FEST 2025 Lillian Berenberg Marvin Garcia Jefferson Rougeau Jennifer Varone SEA WITCH PARADE MARCHERS Chris Allison G Michael Beigay

Rick Bishop Jett Butterworth Dalton Carvey Tori Coan Billy Costello Mel Danskin Kim Lockard Liz Lockard Jim Mease Meryl Migdel Kevin Pelland Dottie Pope Amelia Riley Pamela Rule Jeanette Shimkus Anne Smith Kathy Solano Chad Stover Frank Torres Kevin Ussery Hope Vella Joe Vescio John Zinsmeister THIS MONTH IN QUEER HISTORY Beth Shockley

NOVEMBER 21, 2025

101 Letters

AD INDEX All Saints’ & St. George’s Episcopal Parish.............83

CAMP Rehoboth Save The Dates...........................13

Maplewood Dental Associates ........................... 100

Aqua Bar & Grill......................................................49

CAMP Rehoboth Warm Winter Social.....................31

MCC of Rehoboth...................................................25

Atlantic Jewelry......................................................33

CAMP Rehoboth Women’s+ FEST Save The Date..71

Meals On Wheels Delaware...................................98

Beach Sandcastles Team, Berkshire Hathaway Home Services.....................................................81

CAMPsafe...............................................................24

Mid-Atlantic Symphony Orchestra..........................27

Beebe Healthcare........................................... 39, 83

Chris Beagle Group, Realtors.................................27

Milton Theatre........................................................85

Clear Space Theatre...............................................77

New Wave Spas......................................................84

Collington Independent Living...............................43

Olivia Travel............................................................37

County Bank...........................................................47

PWW Law................................................................28

Debbie Reed Team, Realty Group..........................51

Radio Rehoboth................................................... 102

Delaware Community Foundation.........................69

Rehoboth Beach Bears...........................................93

Delaware Hospice..................................................99

Rehoboth Beach Dental.........................................57

Dogfish Head.........................................................28

Rehoboth Guest House..........................................87

Freddie’s Beach Bar & Restaurant...................... 103

Rigby’s Bar & Grill...................................................67

go fish go brit.........................................................95

Sea Bova Associates, Realtors............................ 104

i.g. Burton ..............................................................47

Southern Delaware Chorale...................................46

Jack Lingo, Real Estate..........................................59

State Farm - Eric Blondin/Tommy Taylor................51

Jenn Harpel, Morgan Stanley.................................17

Stuart Kingston Gallery..........................................29

Jolly Trolley............................................................57

Volunteer Opportunities...................................... 101

Lana Warfield, Realtor............................................57

Volunteer Thank You........................................... 101

Lee Ann Wilkinson Group, Realtors........................55

Windsor’s Flowers............................................... 100

Beebe Medical Foundation....................................38 Brand g Vacations..................................................56 Brandywine Urology...............................................19 Brandywine Valley SPCA........................................45 Café Azafrán...........................................................57 CAMP Rehoboth Annual Sponsors.........................10 CAMP Rehoboth Atrium..........................................11 CAMP Rehoboth Block Party Thank you................14 CAMP Rehoboth Development Ways to Give...........2 CAMP Rehoboth End of Year Appeal......................73 CAMP Rehoboth Letters Subscription................. 101 CAMP Rehoboth Library.........................................17 CAMP Rehoboth Membership................................74 CAMP Rehoboth Minimum Distribution....................9 CAMP Rehoboth Planned Giving Legacy Society...11 CAMP Rehoboth Poetry Jam..................................15

Letters 102

NOVEMBER 21, 2025

Lori’s Café..............................................................65 Loves Liquors.........................................................41

3 S 1ST ST, REHOBOTH

THURSDAY FRIDAY SATURDAY SUNDAY

$8 Martinis + Live Music 6-9 PM Karaoke 9-CL House Chips

Happy Hour Drag Show | 9 PM Till 7 PM

Karaoke | 11 - CL

DJ | 5 - 8:30 PM Happy Hour Drag Show | 9 PM

Till 7 PM

Karaoke | 11 - CL

$10 Wings

Drag Bingo 6-8 PM

Happy Hour TILL 7 PM EVERY NIGHT

FULL EVENTS LIST: FREDDIESRB.COM NOVEMBER 21, 2025

103 Letters

LINDA BOVA

BRIDGET BAUER

BROKER-ABR®

ASSOC. BROKER-REALTOR®

CELL

CELL

302-542-4197

302-245-0577

www.SEABOVA.com

CRESCENT SHORES - Lincoln.

2009 3BR/2BA. Owned solar equipment. Pool & hot tub. 1/2-acre corner lot.

Freshly painted; new LVP. Updated kitchen. Split BR plan. $339,000 (2095712)

SHADY DELL - Ocean View.

1988 3BR/2BA manufactured home on 1/4-acred lot. Low HOA of just $75/yr. Screened porch. Shed w/30amp for your RV. 3 miles to the beach! $380,000 (2095732)

SHERWOOD ACRES – Frankford/Ocean View. 1989 2BR/2BA manufactured home is approx. 1,150SF. 1/4-acre lot. Low HOA of just $40/yr.

Only 6 miles to the beach! $224,900 (2096808)

FAIRFIELD AT LONG NECK Millsboro. 2004 3BR/2.5BA. Oversized garage. Patio + screened & open balcony.

Furnished. Community pool.

15 miles to RB boardwalk. $299,900 (2084876)

FAIRWAY VILLAS - Dagsboro.

2003 2BR/2BA condo w/loft.

7 miles to the Bethany Beach boardwalk. Located in Cripple Creek Golf & CC w/pool, golf & social memberships avail. $354,900 (2085536)

THE PLANTATIONS - Lewes.

Private elevator in this 1998 3BR/2BA condo. Garage w/220v EV outlet. 1,500sf + 200sf L-shaped enclosed porch. 5 miles to the beach! $427,000 (2088132)

REHOBOTH BAY - Rehoboth.

1979 3BR/2BA was fully remodeled in 2018. 1,030sf with the 4-season addition Pool. Marina. 6.5 miles to beach. $139,900 (2085884)

WHISPERING PINES - Lewes. 2016 3BR/2BA is 1,260sq. Big eat-in kitchen.

Covered front porch. Shed.

Community pool. 4 miles to beach. $139,900 (2098990)

SILVER VIEW FARM Rehoboth. 1983 2BR/1BA remodeled in 2023! SS kit appliances w/granite. LVP. Shed. Community pool. 3 miles to beach. $110,000

COLONIAL EAST - Rehoboth Beach. 2019 3BR/2BA features the “ultimate kit” & main BR “super bath” upgrades + more! 4 miles to Rehoboth or Lewes beach. $279,000

REHOBOTH BAY - Rehoboth.

2002 3BR/2BA is 1,560sf.

Features LV & family room.

VinylTech porch. Shed.

Pool. Marina. 6.5 miles to beach. $189,000 (2098272)

(2091602) Lot Rent $896/mt.

Lot Rent $821/mt.

SUSSEX EAST - Lewes.

1987 3BR/2BA 980sf home w/10’x20’ 3-season porch.

Shed. Handicap ramp. Indoor community pool & 6 miles to beach. $84,900 (2099840)

REHOBOTH BAY - Rehoboth.

1986 2BR/2BA. 1,100sf with sunroom addition.

Split bedroom plan. Pool.

Marina. 6.5 miles to beach. $105,000 (2097532) Lot

Lot Rent $888/mt.

CAMELOT MEADOWS - Rehoboth. 1972 3BR/2BA 1,536sf doublewide. Large screened porch. Ready today! Community pool. 4 miles to beach. $120,000 (2100274) Lot Rent $1,080/mt.

(2092564) Lot Rent $723/mt.

SILVER VIEW FARM Rehoboth. 2012 4BR/2BA is 1,624sf w/family room.

Furniture negotiable. Shed.

Community pool. 3 miles to beach. $295,000 (2081216)

Lot Rent $723/mt.

Lot Rent $1,003/mt.

REHOBOTH BAY - Rehoboth.

2019 “like new” 3BR/2BA. Open floor plan. Great kitchen! LVP throughout.

Pool. Marina. 6.5 miles to beach. $199,900 (2090642)

Lot Rent $913/mt.

Lot Rent $734/mt.

Rent $764/mt.

20250 Coastal Highway - Suite 3, Rehoboth Beach, DE 19971  302-227-1222 office

www.SEABOVA.com  EMAIL – RealEstate@SEABOVA.com rev. 11/11/2025 Office Independently Owned & Operated by SBA, Inc. Prices, promotions & availability subject to change without notice. *A/C Active/Under Contract -- Accepting Back-Up Offers